CABLE RIDES SURGE IN REVENUE FROM BUNDLING, NEW SERVICES

Cable TV companies, many of which are getting ready to expand voice-over-IP services and launch wireless offerings, already are reaping the rewards of selling advanced services and service bundles, according to the latest round of earnings reports.

And this is just the beginning, according to Kagan Research analyst Renee Shaening, who is predicting a steady rise in cable TV revenues based on revenues from high-speed data, VoIP, local ad insertion, digital video recorders and video-on-demand. Shaening predicts cable revenues will double over the next 10 years to $117.7 billion by 2015.

“Cable's ability to pack its broadband pipe with a host of compelling services will enable the industry to better than double overall revenue from $66.5 billion to $139 billion by 2015,” Shaening said.

In just the second quarter of this year, major cable TV players, including Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable, have posted significant revenue gains attributable to growing sales of advance services. For example:

• Comcast reported a 64% increase in profits, primarily on the sales of new digital video products such as DVRs, even though basic cable TV subscribership sank and high-speed Internet sales also slowed. Comcast is just now starting to sell VoIP services aggressively and is reportedly on the verge of a deal to sell TiVO service to its customers.

• At Time Warner, VoIP service was selling at a 60% faster clip in the second quarter, and 70% of customers who bought voice also bought cable and video service. High-speed data service grew 21%, and digital video services grew 19%.

• Three million Cox customers now buy two or more services from the company. These customers represent about half of the company's basic cable TV subscribers. Revenues were up 11% due largely to the sale of advanced services, even though its profits fell because of increased expenses and losses from the sale of small cable units. Digital cable TV grew 12%, high-speed Internet access grew 27% and digital telephone service grew 33%.

• Cablevision added 114,000 VoIP customers in the second quarter and continued to grow its digital services, earning kudos from Craig Moffett, a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst, who said the growth signs “bode well for the cable industry.”

Cable TV industry executives also were expressing delight at the upward trends evident in second-quarter earnings reports.

“We are expecting double-digit top-line and bottom-line growth for the foreseeable future,” said Don Logan, chairman of the media and communications group of Time Warner, which includes Time Warner Cable. “We are focused on maximizing revenues from the home. Our monthly subscriber revenue was up double digits for the sixth consecutive quarter, and we had impressive results across all product lines.”