Communications Regulatory Authority

television, with the process of transition from analogue technology, concurrent with the
launching on the market of Internet Protocol television offerings (IPTV) by the fixed
telecommunications operators (cf. paragraph 1.1.1.).
The multiplication of the technological platforms for the dissemination of
television services is also connected with the greater availability of content on the
market. In particular, the content providers, which once viewed the new distribution
platforms with a certain diffidence (for example, the record companies, but also the
movie majors, which have always feared that the availability online of their contents
might entail numerous piracy risks), are starting to consider them as an opportunity for
their activities.
Furthermore, the launch of the PVR (Personal Video Recording) and VoD
(Video on Demand) services enable users to enjoy, on request, customized content,
unconstrained by the programme line-up logic of generalist television.
In short, the digitalization of the networks, with their resulting multiplication,
increase in channels, audience fragmentation, and new ways for viewers to enjoy
television content, tend to shrink the revenues deriving from generalist television,
producing the observed effects on the distribution of the sector’s financing sources.
The television market in the United States
In the United States, the satellite and cable platforms are the broadcast media of
choice to carry television services, in particular for pay TV. Suffice it to consider that, at
the end of 2005, there were around 96 million subscribers to cable and satellite services;
of these, 72% were cable users. As for digital subscribers, 56 million (a 12% increase
over the previous year) are distributed more or less equally between the two platforms.
With regard to the competitive structure, the cable platform is dominated by the
operator Comcast, followed, a number of points away, by Time Warner Cable; also
present are other operators such as Cox and Advance/Newhouse. On the other hand,
satellite digital is almost equally controlled by two companies: DIRECTTV and
Echostar, with a slight advantage of the former over the latter.
Cable and satellite operators have defined different competitive strategies,
focusing on the characteristics of their networks. As for the former, these have focused
on the offerings of integrated communication services (telephony, broadband Internet
access, and television). The expansion of the range is also concerning the mobile
services (quadruple-play offerings): worthy of note in this regard are the alreadymentioned
joint venture (cf. paragraph 1.1.1.) entered into by Comcast, Cox, Time
Warner and Advance/Newhouse, and the mobile operator Sprint Nextel, aiming for the
development and sale of converging services to users. The market strategies have also
concerned the switchover of the analogue users, who still represent 60% of the total
cable TV subscribers, to the digital platform. For this purpose the operators have
developed value-added services such as the digital video recorder (DVR) and video on
demand (VoD) in its various versions (by subscription or pay-per-view).
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