Here is a summary of earnings reports for selected cable and satellite TV companies and what they reveal about the industry's prospects:
April 28: Comcast Corp. reported losing net 82,000 basic cable TV subscribers in the first quarter. Comcast had stronger growth with high-speed Internet customers, but growth in phone customers was slowing.
April 29: Time Warner Cable Inc. reported net loss of 42,000 basic cable subscribers. It continued to add Internet and phone subscribers, but gains were smaller than a year ago.
May 6: Cablevision Systems Corp. reported net gain of 900 video subscribers. That's still 37,900 fewer than in the same period a year earlier. Cablevision had stronger growth with Internet service, while growth in phone business was slowing.
Charter Communications Inc. lost 23,400 basic cable customers.
Satellite TV provider DirecTV Inc., which has been gaining customers at the expense of cable TV rivals, added 100,000 video customers during the quarter. But that was the company's lowest ever, according to Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.
Monday: Dish Network Corp. says it added 237,000 video subscribers. However, its aggressive discounting and advertising contributed to higher costs and a 26 percent drop in net income.
