Friday, June 13, 2008

All-Digital Cable Move May Spark Viewer Ire


Here's an interesting tidbit - USA today is reporting that Comcast will be pressuring 20% of it's subscribers to switch to digital. HUH!?! Isn't this the same Comcast who's been running ad after ad on TV saying exactly the opposite: "Switch to cable and you don't need to worry about the US conversion to digital in February, 2009...blah, blah, blah..."

It seems there's a lot of value in digital for the cable industry after all. With digital comes more bandwidth, more bandwidth means more stuff like more channels, more HD, etc. According to the article:
"'The whole industry is trying to figure out how to get orders of magnitude increases in HD,' says Shawn Strickland, FiOS' vice president for video solutions. 'By this holiday season, there's going to be a stark contrast between who has an HD leadership position and who's not making progress.'"
My favorite quote from the article is this one:
"There's a reason (analog customers) are still analog,' says Bruce Leichtman, president of industry analysis firm Leichtman Research. 'They just don't want more' channels and services."
Really? I would have come to an entirely different conclusion. Something like: many folks have cable because it's easy and it works, despite that they're not too keen on their cable company (charging too much and providing marginal service). They may be saying, "At least I don't need to concern myself with the hassle and cost of replacing my old TV".

All-digital cable move may spark viewer ire - USATODAY.com

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