China--with 112 million cable subscribers, already the largest cable population in the world and one that's expected to hit 137 million by 2010-- is ESPN's thus far untapped mother lode, according to Ben C.
The ruling looks like a clear victory for subscribers of cable services, long frustrated by awkward set-top box technology and perpetually rising subscription fees.
But you are also getting a call option on the possibility that Viacom will sell a lot of premium services to its cable subscribers, using fiber-optic cable it has already laid in the ground.
By enabling cable subscribers to jump ship without even notifying their cable company, that's how.
ENGADGET: Verizon whines to FCC: make it easier for us to gain market share
So whatever Apple or anyone else proposes to do in the way of providing the kind of flexible access to programming on demand that many cable subscribers say they want depends on the cooperation of the cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, and others.
As many cable subscribers will tell you, there is usually more compression artifacts on HD cable and more specifically HD VOD.
About half a million cable subscribers now have the devices, and half of the nation's 72 million cable homes could be similarly wired in five years, TBS' Ancier says.
The number of new households is no longer close to the 100, 000-plus pay-TV subscribers it used to sign up per quarter, but the group said that average customer spend had increased as cable subscribers added new services.
Cable subscribers clocked in at 45.3 million compared to 34.6 million for the telco subscribers.
How long did Time Warner Cable subscribers have to wait to receive The NFL Network?
FORBES: Apple TV: Saving The Broadcast Industry From Looming Collapse
All told, Oxygen now expects to reach 10 million of the nation's 68 million cable subscribers at launch.
Only cable subscribers and online viewers could experience one of the most exciting games of the entire Olympics.
They have a combined customer base of more than 40 million basic-cable subscribers.
In one deal, Sprint has locked up most of the country's cable subscribers.
Even so, the longstanding blackout combined with Mr. Lin's popularity could prompt some Time Warner Cable subscribers to switch TV providers.
WSJ: Jeremy Lin 'Linsanity' Boosts MSG Audience Despite Time Warner Cable Blackout
The higher 2010 subscriber estimate also implies that Netflix is not far from surpassing Comcast subscriber base of 23 million cable subscribers.
FORBES: Netflix Is Worth $176 Only With 70 Million Subscribers
DirecTV knows that its lower price is what has allowed it to continue to add subscribers while terrestrial cable operators have been losing them.
FORBES: Viacom and DirecTV Are Both Right, But DirecTV Is Righter
Rather than give would-be cable subscribers the chance to see Starz content on Netflix, Starz executives concluded it that it would be more lucrative to keep content exclusive.
Meanwhile, TV Everywhere, the feature that lets cable subscribers watch hundreds of channels on any device, at no extra charge, is a deeply cynical ploy to please customers.
FORBES: Big Broadband's Secret Plan to Deliver Wildly Popular Content and Apps to Happy Consumers
Part of that is going to be through initiatives like Six Strikes, but it also may come through making HBO shows easier to get for non-cable subscribers.
FORBES: George R.R. Martin Actually Sounds Sympathetic To 'Game of Thrones' Pirates
In that same quarter, consolidated net revenue grew 6% year-over-year, and the company added more than 20, 000 basic cable subscribers, its fifth consecutive quarter of basic subscriber gains.
Pairing the n9 with four Niveus Digital Cable Receivers, an external, dual CableCARD tuner device, allows cable subscribers to simultaneously view and record eight standard definition or HD programs.
ENGADGET: Niveus says "never enough," adds support for eight CableCARDs / ten Extenders
The movie would have only been available to Comcast cable subscribers in Portland and Atlanta (Comcast owns Universal) but even the experimental video-on-demand offer put theater owners on edge.
Around 1.5 million households, or about 10% of cable subscribers in South Korea, watched South Korean Shin Ji-yai beat Paula Creamer in playoff at the Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va.
Ending a multiyear battle between Hollywood studios and telecommunications giants, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that cable operators could allow subscribers to store recorded shows on cable systems' massive central databases instead of in set-top boxes.
These are the sorts of content partnerships Marc is actively pursuing for the console, but when prompted to weigh in on the recent buzz surrounding HBO keeping Go restricted to cable subscribers, he chose to stay diplomatic.
This would encompass another 850, 000 cable subscribers.
FORBES: Los Angeles Lakers Land DirecTV Deal, Time Warner Now Sets Sights on Dodgers
Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ) is working on a service called "Start Over" that will allow digital cable subscribers to press a button and restart any program already underway from its beginning.
And ESPN, with about 100 million domestic subscribers, carries the cable operation for Disney.
In 2003, there were twice as many cable Internet subscribers in the U.S. as DSL subscribers, according to the Yankee Group.
应用推荐