DirecTV To Claim Early HDTV Advantage Over Cable

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

For the next few years, DirecTV will hold an HD advantage over its cable rivals by providing many more channels. But cable will catch up eventually, thanks to a technology called switched digital video. That was the consensus of a panel of cable industry execs at the first day of the CTAM Summit convention in DC yesterday afternoon. CTAM is a marketing organization made up of cable operators and programmers. "It's been a challenge in getting out our switched digital video solution," said Time Warner Cable VP/Marketing Solutions Lauren LoFrisco. "The notion that DirecTV has more has worked for them, but it is a relatively short-term play for them." Sanford Bernstein cable analyst Craig Moffett agreed, saying that cable's plans to deploy switched video are happening faster than people anticipated. "DirecTV will have an HD advantage for a short time," he said.