OnScreen Media Summit: BOA's Cohen Says Still Upside in Cable

High-speed data, phone fuel new opportunities in interactive advertising, international

By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/28/2010 4:41:38 PM

More Coverage: OnScreen Media Summit

New York - Despite declining subscribers, a sluggish economy and an anemic housing market, Bank of America Merrill Lynch first vice president and managing director Jessica Reif Cohen is still bullish on the cable sector, fueled by strong growth in new services and a laser-like focus on higher end customers.

Reif Cohen, interviewed by Multichannel News editor-in-chief Mark Robichaux at the Broadcasting Cable Multichannel News On Screen Media Summit here, said that although cable has lost basic subscribers over the years, it has more than made up for it in higher margin customers who take more products.

The influential media analyst pointed to Comcast's recent third quarter results, adding htat while basic subscriber losses were heavier than expected - 275,000 vs. the analyst consensus of 189,000 in losses - there was a strong uptick in high-speed Internet and phone customers.

"You're seeing a difference with the haves and have-nots," Reif Cohen said, noting that the amount of subscribers taking faster and more expensive high-speed data packages industry wide outnumber those taking lower priced packages by a margin of 2:1.

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