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Article: Cable television's long march. (future of cable television industry)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- November 16, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DENVER AND NEW YORK
OPEN a copy of USA Today and your eye is likely to be caught by vast advertisements for satellite television. "Up to 60 pay-per-view movies every night", they promise, along with oodles of sport, a crystalline picture, and several hundred television and radio channels. All this for a mere $199 purchase of a pizza-sized satellite dish and a subscription not far out of line with the price of basic cable television.
Such blandishments have had a disastrous effect on the shares of the cable-television industry-including those of Tele-Communications Inc (TCI), the firm with the largest cable systems. Only three years ago, Bell Atlantic, a ...