Cable: A Great American Success Story

Fifty-eight years after the birth of the cable industry gave rise to the modern telecommunications industry, the marketplace for these services is exploding as never before. Consumers have a variety of choices for their video, Internet and telephone needs. The personalization of media and telecom services for individual homes and lifestyles means that media content is increasingly being consumed when, where and how the customer dictates.

A steady flow of new cable products and services is behind the trend, from digital video recorders, to more interactive programming guides, interactive TV and a greater amount of content available on demand. The addition of wireless telephone service in 2006 is just the latest example of the choices that cable gives customers to meet their needs.

At the end of 2005, cable served:

• 28.5 million digital cable customers
• 25.4 million customers for its high-speed Internet service
• 5.6 million digital phone customers

Just two decades ago cable provided a single service — a clear video picture. Driven by competition and backed by billions of dollars in private capital, over the past decade, the industry has reinvented itself to provide video, voice and data services. Since 1996, cable companies have spent more than $100 billion in private capital investments to upgrade network infrastructure in order to provide digital video and broadband services.

Today, cable programming is hotter than ever. Cable networks and systems have made substantial investments in programming, and that commitment has been rewarded with increased ratings and growing recognition. As a result of cable’s savvy programming strategies, cable networks in the 2005-06 television season continued to gain market share over the broadcast networks.

Even as the industry has grown, it hasn’t forgotten its local roots. Cable companies employ tens of thousands of local residents and pay billions in local franchise fees. Cable companies give back to the communities, not only by donating services to schools and libraries as part of the industry's Cable in the Classroom commitment and by supporting local events, but also through volunteerism.

For those interested in learning more about how the cable industry continues to drive creativity and innovation in the multichannel video, Internet, telephone and wireless markets, please visit the website of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States.