Geography, Ethnic Packages Boost Satellite's Big Zips

Cable World,  April 4, 2005  

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By Mavis Scanlon

So much for the theory that satellite rules only in remote, rural areas.

We asked Media Business Corp. to find the 10 towns (with more than 10,000 households) with the highest satellite penetration. The results were surprising: In the towns listed below, some of the country's largest cable operators are in a dead heat with satellite.

Charter serves part or all of four of the top 10 satellite towns. Satellite has taken off like wildfire in Victorville, Calif., for example, a town of about 78,000 situated on the edge of the Mojave Desert (97 miles northeast of Los Angeles). Of 12,621 homes in Victorville/Spring Valley Lake, some 10,000 own satellite dishes. Charter wouldn't comment on the individual situations.

Some communities may have a lower percentage of cable homes passed. In the Tennessee towns of Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, a popular vacation area, the Great Smoky Mountain topography makes laying cable plant more difficult. In other areas, residents gravitate to satellite offerings. The relatively large Asian and Middle Eastern populations in Sterling, Va., outside Washington, D.C., are attracted by satellite's international packages, according to Adelphia spokeswoman Erica Stull.

"We're working on that," she said, adding that Adelphia high-speed Internet service in the area is booming. Murrieta, Calif., which is served by Adelphia and Comcast, was on the tail end of upgrades by both companies, which delayed the deployment of advanced services and opened the door for DBS.

ZIP Code: 92392
Town : Victorville/Spring Valley Lake
DMA: Los Angeles
State: CA
DBS Penetration: 79.45%
Cable Operator Serving Area: Charter

ZIP Code: 95020
Town : Gilroy
DMA: San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
State: CA
DBS Penetration: 65.03
Cable Operator Serving Area: Charter

ZIP Code: 28734
Town : Franklin
DMA: Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville
State: NC
DBS Penetration: 64.96
Cable Operator Serving Area: Mediacom

ZIP Code: 92562
Town : Murrieta
DMA: Los Angeles
State: CA
DBS Penetration: 61.41
Cable Operator Serving Area: Adelphia and Comcast

ZIP Code: 77351
Town : Livingston/Segno
DMA: Houston
State: TX
DBS Penetration: 59.63
Cable Operator Serving Area: Cebridge and Cox

ZIP Code: 95037
Town : Morgan Hill
DMA: San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
State: CA
DBS Penetration: 55.7
Cable Operator Serving Area: Charter

ZIP Code: 37876
Town : Sevierville/Pigeon Forge
DMA: Knoxville
State: TN
DBS Penetration: 55.56
Cable Operator Serving Area: Charter and Comcast

ZIP Code: 20164
Town : Sterling
DMA: Wasington, DC (Hagerstown)
State: VA
DBS Penetration: 54.61
Cable Operator Serving Area: Adelphia

ZIP Code: 93611
Town : Clovis
DMA: Fresno-Visalia
State: CA
DBS Penetration: 54
Cable Operator Serving Area: Comcast

ZIP Code: 27520
Town : Clayton
DMA: Raleigh-Durham (Fayetteville)
State: NC
DBS Penetration: 53.7
Cable Operator Serving Area: Time Warner Cable

Source: DataBRIDGE, Media Business Corp., 2005

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