As of 2007, the cable industry (directly and indirectly) accounted for 1.5 million U.S. jobs representing almost $62 billion in personal income. Gross economic output attributable to the industry amounts to nearly $227 billion.*

Careers in the cable industry can be split into the following divisions:

Cable Systems

Local cable systems provide subscribing customers with a clear television signal delivered directly to the home via cable.

To accomplish this, the local cable system typically requires the combined efforts of a variety of skilled persons. In smaller systems, however, one person may perform more than one of these functions:

Management
Technical
Administrative
Marketing/Public Relations
Programming & Production

MSOs

In addition to a number of individually owned cable systems, many corporate and regional businesses own and operate more than one cable system. These companies are called multiple system operators or MSOs .

The personnel structure of the MSO usually mirrors the structure of individual cable systems, with one main difference. While the primary function of a cable system is to offer cable services to subscribers, the purpose of the MSO is to provide support services to the cable systems. For instance, by virtue of volume, an MSO may be able to receive greater discounts on equipment and supplies, and thus could serve as the purchasing agent for its systems. Additionally, MSOs typically develop budgets, maintain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) records, and explore new business opportunities for their systems.

The following departments make up the structure of MSOs:

Corporate Engineering
Operations Management
Sales and Marketing
Public Affairs
Human Resources
Finance
Legal

Cable Networks

Management
Programming
Sales
Legal
Communications