Statement of NCTA President & CEO Regarding Cable Prices

11/14/2007 -- NCTA's Kyle McSlarrow Statement:

“The Chairman’s office continues to offer a tired and false analysis of price and value for cable video subscribers, based on surveys ten years ago when consumers only paid for an average of 45 analog channels. A real analysis of cable prices shows that consumers are watching more and paying less for that viewing time. And a moment’s reflection suggests how absurd it is to compare a small analog offering of ten years ago with today’s offering of digital, high definition, and video on demand. Moreover, from the consumer’s point of view, what is important is that cable’s bundle of video, high-speed Internet and voice service costs 23 percent less than ten years ago.

The reality is that tens of millions of Americans today are saving tens of billions of dollars each year by purchasing video, data and voice services from cable. By contrast, the proposals made by the Chairman for an a la carte mandate and other intrusive regulation will raise prices and reduce programming diversity according to every single credible study. Chairman Martin’s various “leased access” and "must-carry" proposals amount to a bandwidth grab that will limit available channel space for new programmers and new services.”

NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks. The cable industry is the nation’s largest broadband provider of high-speed Internet access after investing more than $110 billion over ten years to build a two-way interactive network with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to millions of American consumers.

Source: National Cable & Telecommunications Association

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