The cable industry is an important provider in the delivery of entertainment and information to the American consumer, and has a significant and rapidly growing role in the delivery of telecommunications services. Through its aggressive re-investment of capital and its efforts to deploy new and innovative services to consumers, the industry has fostered the development of a highly competitive telecommunications market and has been a catalyst for broadband growth in the U.S. Through these investment and innovation initiatives, the industry has exerted a substantial impact on the United States economy.

In addition, the subscription television program network industry has a substantial economic impact of its own – one that is both linked to and distinct from its role as a supplier to the cable industry.

Cable Industry Economic Impacts

The following information is from a study conducted by Bortz Media & Sports Group, Inc., which includes estimates of the direct and indirect impact of the industry on employment, personal income and gross output in 2010. You can read the entire report here or see an interactive map of the results by state or Congressional district.

As of 2010, the cable industry (directly and indirectly) accounted for nearly 1.8 million U.S. jobs representing almost $77 billion in personal income. Gross economic output attributable to the industry amounts to more than $251 billion.

Other measures of the industry’s economic impact include:

• Cable operator revenues in 2010 totaled more than $94 billion, providing direct employment to 233,700 people. Compensation to cable industry employees totaled $17.3 billion.
• These cable industry employees can be found in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, reflecting the overwhelmingly local character of an industry comprised of over 7,400 local cable systems. In fact, there are at least 300 cable industry employees in each U.S. Congressional District – and more than 2,000 cable employees in selected Districts (see Appendix B for employment and impact by District).
• Cable industry suppliers provide another 136,000 cable-related jobs, representing personal income of $11.1 billion.
• Since 2002, direct and indirect employment attributable to the cable industry has increased by 638,000 jobs. This growth has occurred even in a time period when total U.S. employment has not increased.
• Considering only those employment increases attributable directly to cable operators, growth since 2002 totals about 58,000 jobs. The industry’s addition of 4,700 jobs over the last three years is particularly impressive in light of the U.S. economy’s net loss of more than 7 million jobs.
• Cable’s economic impacts are spread throughout all major sectors of the U.S. economy. The largest private sector impacts are in the information, services and manufacturing sectors, each of which are critical to both the growth and the overall health of the economy. The industry also is estimated to have a substantial effect on public sector employment.

Program Network Industry Economic Impacts

As of 2010, the program network industry (directly and indirectly) accounted for 854,000 U.S. jobs representing almost $32 billion in personal income. The industry’s employment impact has increased by 87,000 jobs in the last three years. Gross economic output attributable to the industry amounts to just over $108 billion.*

Other measures of the industry’s economic impact include:

• Program network revenues in 2010 totaled nearly $60 billion, providing direct employment to 50,700 people – an increase of 4,200 jobs since 2007. Compensation to program network industry employees totaled $6.6 billion.
• The industry’s impact is spread throughout all sectors of the U.S. economy. However, program network industry expenditures have a particular concentration (and resulting impact) on the program production and sports industries. Together, these two industries derive almost $25 billion in revenues, over 70,000 jobs, and $7.5 billion in employee compensation from the program network industry.
• At the same time, the industry’s innovation has greatly improved the television services available to the American consumer. Nearly all digital cable customers have access to video-on-demand programming – with up to 25,000 titles available (most at no charge); 19 million cable customers have digital video recording capability; and more than 26 million cable homes had HDTV-enabled set-top boxes as of year-end 2010.
• The on-demand revolution has resulted in an enormous increase in consumer choice and programming access. As an example, the 25,000 on-demand titles offered by Comcast’s Xfinity in 2010 represent an increase from 10,000 titles in 2008. Moreover, Xfinity offers 150,000 programs online each month.
• As of the 2009-10 television season, viewing of basic cable programming measured against all TV households was more than two and a half times the level of ad-supported cable network viewing during the 1994-95 season. In 2009-10, the aggregate total day viewing of ad-supported cable networks reached 51 percent, exceeding the combined viewership of all other television sources.
• As a measure of the industry’s commitment to programming quality, the annual spending on programming by basic networks grew from $1.4 billion in 1990 to $24.4 billion in 2010. Spending has nearly tripled in the last eight years. The top 20 cable networks spent an average of $738 million per network during 2010, compared with $566 million in 2007 and just $160 million in 1997.
• Finally, the cable industry annually contributes substantially to charities, non-profit organizations and state/municipal coffers on a nationwide basis. In 2010, the NCTA estimates that franchise fees totaled over $2.7 billion, reflecting funds paid directly to local municipalities. In addition, sales and use taxes associated with cable subscriptions amounted to over $2.8 billion in revenues to state and local government entities. Moreover, including both cable operators and programming networks, the industry’s public service announcements as well as cash and “in-kind” contributions to local and national non-profit organizations for 2010 are estimated to have exceeded $1.5 billion.

* The total impacts reported here accurately reflect the economic impacts of the program network industry. However, since the program network industry is a supplier to the cable industry, a portion of the program network industry’s total impacts are also subsumed in the total impacts estimated for the cable industry. As such, the total impacts for the two industries as presented in this report are not additive.