Just where does the average dollar of cable revenue go? As cable operators struggle to win back
customers, juggle their finances to adapt to a changing economy and find new ways to package services
for cost-conscious consumers, that question stands out. For most operators, the bulk of every
dollar generated from voice, video and data service is plowed right back into the business (about
80%). But that other 20% does find some interesting homes — taxes, for one (contrary to industry
lore, many cable operators do pay taxes now) and profit, another once-elusive metric for cable. Multichannel
News took a detailed look at the financial statements of several publicly traded MSOs and
spoke with analysts and industry associations to come up with a snapshot that would represent how
a typical cable operator spends its money. All numbers are averages and are based on financial reports,
industry estimates, SNL Kagan research and MCN estimates. No figures are intended to
reflect the practices of any individual cable operator.
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