• by Wayne Friedman , October 28, 2011

Big cable system operators are losing ground with traditional customers -- but new businesses continue to grow.

Long Island, NY-based Cablevision Systems Corp. lost 19,000 video subscribers in the third quarter from a year ago, now totaling 3.26 million video customers. These losses are slower than in previous periods -- 23,000 in the second quarter of 2011 and 24,500 in the third quarter of 2010.

Better news is that the average monthly revenue for its basic video customers continues to be high: $151.71.

Internet/broadband customers, however, improved to 16,900, and phone/voice business grew to 38,200. Overall, the company had more than 3.6 million customers -- down 15,000 from the second quarter of 2010.

Company CEO James Dolan stated: "Our cable operations reported improved subscriber metrics that included increases in both high-speed data customers and voice lines, while the company continued to generate healthy free cash flow."

Local advertising revenues dipped 10% to $40 million during the period. The day before, Time Warner Cable said it lost similar ground as a result of lower political advertising revenue than a year ago.

Overall revenue grew 8% to $1.67 billion over a year ago, but net income was cut by more than half to $39.6 million.

Dolan adds: "As we are operating in a challenging environment, we are continuing our efforts to capitalize on the strength of our network and products and on building our business for the long term."

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