Are Cable TV Carriers Starting To See Meaningful Subscriber Degradation Due To More Young People Not Signing Up For Cable Or Satellite TV In Their Homes?

Trefis submits: Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) recently reported its Q1 2011 earnings and based on positive trends in broadband, we have updated our estimates. In looking at the last couple of earnings, we see the a similar story emerging: broadband subscriber gains accompanied by video subscriber losses.

John McCain is actually working on something people really want to see happen — blowing up the cable industry's expensive bundles of channels. He's introducing legislation that would make it easier for consumers to pick their channels.

By Trefis: Like other cable companies, Time Warner Cable (TWC) has suffered consistent subscriber losses for the past few years.

ByThomas Kennedy: Data Commoditization Over recent years there has been a steady yet meaningful change in the communications and broadcast industries. More and more, traditional cable operators and fixed line phone companies are stepping on each other's toes and gaining traction providing their competitor's traditional services.

Trefis submits: Dish Network (DISH) lost subscribers in the second quarter of 2010. If this trend continues it could significantly depress the company’s stock price.

Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach in the U.S. nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that cofounder Al Gore couldn’t make relevant.

Trefis submits: DirecTV (DTV) recently reported its Q3 earnings. Based on continued subscriber gains and cost improvements in its Latin American business, we have increased our price estimate for DirecTV’s stock to $42.51 which is very close to current market price.

Trefis submits: Netflix’s (NASDAQ:NFLX) selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs as a percentage of gross profits have fallen from around 70% of gross profits in 2006 to around 49% in 2009. [1] We expect this ratio to drop further as Netflix as subscriber growth has outpaced marketing costs in recent quarters.