Mike:
The FCC (www.fcc.gov) has a lot of data but it is hard to find. Once when browsing
I found:
Subscriber growth in the US for cable, as of 1999 (a year out of date):
- There were 66.7 million subscribers as of June 1999, up ~ 2% from 1998
- There were 14.2 million satellite subscribers, up 26% from 1998.
I tried to see if the 2000 figures are posted, but didn't find anything.
Given there are about 100 million US households, 67% have cable, 14% have satellite,
but satellite is growing faster than cable. My only surprise was that, since 98% of
households have TVs, 18% still must use antennas- or only watch VCRs!
But satellite is a high growth business, so a DSL/Satellite combination could be a
winner. The problem is DSL reach, but that can also be solved.
Alas, this combination costs more, I believe, than a cable solution. My conclusion is
that probably both solutions will stay around, but cable has the edge where available. |
