Speaking to attendees at the Opening General Session of NCTA's The National Show, President and CEO Robert Sachs remarked that industry-watchers should feel "bullish" about cable's future in light of what he says is a growing consumer adoption of broadband cable services and increased viewership.
According to Sachs, as of March 31, cable operators are serving more than 20 million digital cable, 12 million high-speed Internet and 2.5 million cable telephone customers. Calling broadband technology "cable's true growth engine," Sachs also noted that cable HDTV deployment is another harbinger for success. As of June 1, 78 of the top 100 Designated Market Areas were passed by at least one cable operator that provides a package of HDTV channels, according to Sachs.
Sachs pointed to HDTV, VOD, private video recorders, high speed Internet access service and voice over Internet protocol telephone service as new products to encourage cable's growth.
