Consolidation, Reorganization Reflected in Cable System Rankings

CONSOLIDATION, REORGANIZATION REFLECTED IN CABLE SYSTEM RANKINGS
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: George Winslow]
Consolidation has once again transformed Multichannel News' list of the top 100 cable systems. Thanks to Comcast and Time Warner Cable's acquisition of Adelphia Communications, system swaps between the two companies and organizational changes at other operators, a slew of systems either expanded their footprint or were swallowed up by larger clusters. Fewer than three quarters of the systems on last year's list survived into 2007 with the same division name. And, many of the survivors have a much expanded footprint. Thanks to those changes, the 100 largest systems now serve 54,276,131 basic subscribers, significantly up from 51,013,116 in 2006 and 47,644,436 in 2003. Consolidation and reorganization's effect was most obvious in such areas as southern California, Ohio, Texas and New England, where Time Warner divisions swallowed up a number of Adelphia and Comcast operations, or in Washington, D.C., Boston, St. Paul., Pittsburgh, Houston and Florida where Comcast expanded its clusters or gained new systems. Big markets were the most affected. Last year, a system with 600,000 basic subscribers would have easily made it into the top 25. This year, that system would rank 32nd. The impact of the deal making went beyond the Adelphia deal. Cox Communications and Charter Communications systems also changed hands and for the first time Suddenlink Communications has a system in the top 100.
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6408713.html