Through TheFLY's Eyes: Cable vs. Satellite
from Theflyonthewall.com

















Net Adds Tell The Story

Cable stocks have finally started moving during the last month after a period of long underperformance. Net additions of subscribers tell the story:

Net Subscribers from 1Q 2005 to 1Q 2006

* EchoStar (DISH) from 325,000 net adds down to 225,000 net adds
* DirectTV (DTV) from 505,000 net adds down to 255,000 net adds
* Comcast (CMCSA) from a loss of 29,000 to an increase of 47,000
* Time Warner (TWX) from an increase of 26,000 to an increase of 82,000

While the satellite companies continue to add more new subscribers, the growth has slowed down considerably. Meanwhile, the cable companies, for the most part, have been losing or adding very few new subscribers. The March quarter of 2006 was the first time in years that cable actually had a pick up in net basic subscribers.