A sector that is undergoing significant change is the cable/internet industry. Three of the largest companies within that industry are Comcast, DirecTV, and Time Warner. Companies within this industry are facing substantial threats but a number of new opportunities have arisen which could allow these companies to remain relevant and profitable.
Opportunities for the cable industry include new technology, new partnerships, and increased consumer necessity for services. Perhaps the single biggest opportunity the cable industry has is the increased reliance of consumers on their services. The world has become increasingly digitally oriented. Many consumers rely heavily on the services provided by these companies such as television and the internet.
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Cord cutting is the use of streaming media services like Netflix, Hulu and Sling TV in lieu of traditional cable subscriptions. This trend away from traditional cable subscription presents a significant threat to important revenue streams. One of the key strategies for companies in the cable industry is to offset the costs of expensive services like cable with more profitable services like internet. With significant numbers of individuals ridding themselves of traditional cable subscriptions it will be increasingly difficult to maintain profitability while maintaining a similar level of service. Cable companies face significant threats from companies that offer internet based streaming media services like Netflix. A tactic that has been used by companies within the cable industry is to lower internet speeds when consumers stream services like Netflix in order to diminish their appeal. The government has been reviewing the creation of new regulations that would prohibit this practice. These net neutrality regulations would reclassify these providers from information service providers to utility providers. This reclassification would make it so that there are much stricter standards by which companies are required to provide access and would disallow the throttling of internet speeds. Perhaps the largest threat that is facing the cable industry is from nontraditional competition. Companies like Google have inserted themselves into the industry by developing services like Google Fiber. This service offers exceptionally fast internet at a speed that none of the current providers can match. This presents an exceptional threat especially when coupled with the trend towards streaming media. This could be potentially deadly for companies within the cable industry as they would be entirely cut out of the
Growing from a small provider of a few thousand, the company has grown to be a massive conglomerate encompassing far greater than simply cable services. Now owning NBC Universal, Comcast exerts great power within the market, employing a variety of strategies to expand itself and remain profitable. When it attempted to merge with Time Warner cable, several strongly opposed when considering the massive power it already possessed. In addition, growing sentiment against cable providers has resulted in the reduction of subscribers. Despite this, Comcast is in a high period of expansion within the business cycle. However, it should remain cautious of the changing environment of how consumers obtain television
The five-year product objectives and marketing focus for Comcast Cable are explained in this section. This marketing focus will include the target markets, points of difference, and Comcast’s positioning of their telephone, cable, and Internet services. With this market-product focus, Comcast will utilize their specialty features to ensure continued market share growth.
In our internal analysis of the merger between Comcast Corporation and Time Warner Cable (TWC) we looked at the internal strengths and weaknesses of the acquired company. By analyzing these strengths and weaknesses we determined that Comcast Corp. proposal to acquire TWC will have potential benefits. Comcast Corporation is already a giant, owning the nation’s largest cable distribution network and TWC is the second largest cable distributor serving roughly 12 million households. A combination of the two companies is said to generate multiple pro-consumer and pro-competitive benefits (Grimes 1).
Verizon Communications Inc. is one of the leaders in providing communication services around the world. Its primary offerings are wireless, wireline, and broadband communication resources to meet residential, business, and government needs. As a leader in its industry, how can Verizon continue to grow its business? What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats impact the success of Verizon now and in the future?
Television, the phone, and the internet. These inventions have uniquely shaped the 20th century and have led to the 21st century being known as the age of information. These services are the primary ways we communicate, express ourselves, and reach out in our ever increasing global world. In the United States, these services are provided by a number of different firms, chief among them is Comcast, being the largest provider of Cable and internet in America, and a large telephone provider. Next to it stands Time Warner Cable, the second largest provider of cable in the United States. The decision for Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for forty-five billion dollars in 2014 has led to many criticizing the merger, calling it a monopoly. Others have called the whole cable system an oligopoly. For it to be a monopoly or an oligopoly, it would have to fit their respective categories. The merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable would not create a true monopoly, but would give it significant market power because it has monopoly resources and can be considered a natural monopoly. It will also further its power in a market dominated by oligopolies. People argue that it is not a danger to Americans for this merger to happen, but when one looks at the practices Comcast already uses, it paints
The dominant economic traits of this industry start with having an enormous amount of capital required for staying competitive. One is also required to spend lots of money on research and development, as the telecommunications industry seems to be the vision of the future. More and more companies like AT&T are trying very hard to combine their network services of phone line, video and data transfer, high speed internet access, and television cable via one line in the consumers homes. With a successful combination of the above stated services AT&T is hoping to be the industry leader in the near future.
In the digital age, can Dish Network remain a leader in the television industry? What challenges does Dish Network face in the age of streaming? How does Dish Network remain competitive in an ever-changing environment? Below we will discuss a complete analysis of how the company functions inside and out, from the data warehouse and supply chain to the front and back-end customer interactions, sales and programs used for enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems.
The 1960s by 1962, almost 800 cable systems serving 850,000 subscribers were in business. Not surprisingly, the growth of cable through the importation of distant signals was viewed as competition by local television stations. In response to broadcast industry concerns, the FCC expanded its jurisdiction and placed restrictions on the ability of cable system to import distant television signals. This action had the effect of freezing the development of cable systems in major markets.
The idea inspired Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, and then they founded Netflix in Scotts Valley, California in 1997 (Netflix, 2014). The company comes into play by developing a subscription-based streaming platform for movies and television shows. Unlike the traditional movie rental businesses such as Blockbuster and Redbox, Netflix’s innovation offers service via Internet, and it does not have any physical stores but instead delivers DVDs through postal mail in the U.S. Since then, Netflix has become the world’s leading internet television network with constant growth of customers to over 48 millions members in more than 40 countries in the North America, Europe, and the Latin America (Netflix, 2014). In this analysis, the main focus is examining the current market environment for Netflix. It identifies the type of market structure that Netflix is currently competing. The analysis also expands on the competitions, product differentiation, pricing strategy, and measuring the level of easy entry-and-exit.
The year is 1952 and a young John Rigas purchased a cable company for a mere $300 in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with high hopes of building the company into a successful family owned and operated business (AICPA, 2005, para. 3); a business that would remain unparallel to the rest of its competition. In the late 1990s his dreams came to fruition; John Rigas, along with a few close family members and investors, purchased Century Communications for $5.2 billion and merged the companies together becoming the 6th largest cable company serving more than 5.6 million subscribers (AICPA, 2005, para. 4). Ensuring that the majority of Adelphia’s voting stock and control of the board remained in the hands of f...
Outstanding companies from mainstream companies. Some of the challenges encountered in the market is that the market is “Too Competitive”. They are finding that many services that were once provided by telecommunication companies are now being provided by other companies like Cable. The companies that are making stability so hard for Global Communication are cable companies. These companies are not only specializing in cable but are starting to provide other services that provide complete solutions dealing with computers, televisions, and telephone service which permits them to enter a larger market with these advancements in technology.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, expanded basic cable rates have increased at a rate of approximately 6% per year since 1995. This is double the Consumer Price Index of 2.9%, and does not include charges for equipment, fees and taxes. Therefore, if cable prices continue to rise at double the rate of other consumer goods, it stands to reason that more shoppers will consider alternative sources for their video entertainment. ("REPORT ON CABLE INDUSTRY PRICES"
The intent of this paper is to perform an analysis of the cable industry's external environment. The first sections of the document will discuss environmental scanning and define the telecommunication niche that is currently occupied by cable operators such as Comcast. The next section will identify the macroeconomic variables that currently impact cable operators and will compare two variables to two corresponding industry variables. The final section of the paper will identify some of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. An external analysis of the industry will provide a clear picture of the environment as well as any opportunities and threats faced by Comcast. By understanding the environment, opportunities and threats a company has the ability to create strategies to support its business goals. The primary process by which Comcast will gain an understanding of its external environment is environmental scanning.
1. Firm Strategy, structure & rivalry As for February 2018 only 5 major conglomerates owned the whole motion picture industry in California: Walt Disney, Time Warner, NBC Universal, Sony and Viacom, making of this a very consolidated industry, which has even been criticized saying that "The big fish are eating each other, and soon there may only be one left" due to the recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the giant Walt Disney (VanDerWerff, 2017). However, mergers and acquisitions activities between big media conglomerates are closely watched by the government, moreover AT&T's plans to acquire Time Warner has been blocked by an antitrust lawsuit issued by the US Department of Justice stating that the merger "would weaken competition and hurt consumers" (Repko, 2017). Streaming services introduced by Netflix and Amazon have boosted competition in the motion picture industry, driving a race for more sophisticated productions in the industry, CEO's of Amazon and Netflix have stated that there's still space for more competitors (Laskus, 2017).