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<br />Non -Subs in Survey Say
<br />They'd Buy Basic at $15
<br />By Larry Jatt..
<br />SYOSSET, NY — After being
<br />given descriptions of cable ser-
<br />vices, one-third of respondents
<br />interviewed for a recently re-
<br />leased national survey of non -
<br />cable subscribers said they
<br />would definitely or probably
<br />subscribe to basic service at
<br />$15.
<br />The survey, conducted by
<br />Beta Research Corp., based
<br />here, also'.) nd that The Dis-
<br />covery Channel was selected as
<br />the most appealing basic ser-
<br />vice by 4. percent of the non-
<br />sub:cribers, who were asked to
<br />rank in order of perference five
<br />basic networks.
<br />TDC was followed by
<br />American Movie Classics (37
<br />percent), ESPN (35 percent),
<br />Movietime (31 percent), CNN
<br />(30 percent) and Nickelodeon
<br />(30 percentl.
<br />The survev was conducted
<br />vi , telephone last March
<br />among a national sample of
<br />non -cable households. A total
<br />of 300 interviews were com-
<br />pleted with an available head
<br />of household. Thirty-coe per-
<br />cent of the respondents had
<br />subscribed to cable in the past.
<br />Compilation and analvsis of
<br />^e data was completed last
<br />th .
<br />1'he primary objectives of
<br />the survey were to determule
<br />non -subscribers' interest in
<br />basic cables services, their per-
<br />ceived value of basic cable ser-
<br />vices, interest in services
<br />among age/sex groups, and
<br />interest in program categories
<br />Overall, services with a more
<br />distinctive identity and defi-
<br />nition (e.g., TDC, AMC and
<br />CNNI elicited more interest
<br />than services with a variety of
<br />general -interest programming
<br />(e.g., SuperStation TBS,
<br />CBN Cable Network. Life-
<br />Treasury Meets with Ops
<br />OnDepreciation LawsMy Jeannine Averse
<br />WASHINGTON — The
<br />Treasury Department last
<br />week to( k its first step toward
<br />collecting informatioe on how
<br />equipment and other property
<br />used by cable companies will
<br />he. depreciated under future
<br />tax laws by soliciting the rec-
<br />ommendations of some of the
<br />•►stion's largest cable com-
<br />panies
<br />The cable business is one of
<br />10 industries the Treasury has
<br />selected for analysis in ac-
<br />c.,rdance with the Tax Reform
<br />Act of 1986, the landmark
<br />iegialation that made com-
<br />prehensive changes in the
<br />ti S tax system
<br />Earlier this year. Tressury
<br />nt&-ials and broadcasters
<br />amiwd with varicus nwth•nts
<br />Ia nining the r,onamic
<br />mdcast equipment
<br />Ile atives from Capital
<br />i fit. .0(. inc Naimmal
<br />llroad, asking (i) (i enneit
<br />Irrc andnthe (Nations) As-
<br />s .-tat Mrq Of Iir idraoters were
<br />among groups that attended
<br />the Treasury's previous two-
<br />hour meeting
<br />Last week's Treasury meet-
<br />ing included representatives
<br />I rom Tele-Communications
<br />inc. ; American 'Television A
<br />Communications Corp ; Cox
<br />Cable Communications inc.;
<br />Centel Corp , a diversified
<br />telecommunications company
<br />with cable holdings; Houston
<br />Industries inc., the Texas
<br />electric utility that recently
<br />won a bid to acquire the U . S
<br />cable holdings of Rogers U . S
<br />Cablesystems inc ; and the
<br />National Cable Television As-
<br />aocistiom It was the first in
<br />several planned meetings at
<br />the Treasury
<br />The Treasury asked the
<br />companies for imput on de-
<br />signing a questionnaire that
<br />will he sent to cable eystems
<br />across the country 17►e volun-
<br />tary form is *uplMoed to assist
<br />the Tressury in formulating
<br />any new deprecint,orn laws for I
<br />cable egtupment
<br />TDC ranked highest in ap-
<br />peal among respondents aged
<br />1849, and AV..0 ranked high-
<br />est in the 50-plus age group.
<br />In addition, TDC ranked
<br />highest in both overall men
<br />and women categories, with
<br />AMC ranking second among
<br />women and third among men .
<br />ESPN ranked second among
<br />men and third among women.
<br />In terms of programming
<br />When the Treasury last met
<br />with broadcasters in June, it
<br />was considering lumping the
<br />cable industry into its broad-
<br />cast study The key que-4tlon
<br />the Treasury had was whether
<br />cable industry "has enough
<br />identity of its own" lc be stud-
<br />ied separately, said Wendell
<br />Bailey, NCTA's vice president
<br />of science and technology .
<br />Mr. Bailey attended last
<br />week's meeting as well as the
<br />June meeting with broad -
<br />elate" Other than that,
<br />"'Nothing else was decided,"
<br />he said 'i i
<br />limll. genres, 4Q_pwrcen' or the reson-
<br />Other services were among dents indicated strong interest
<br />the five most appealing: Arta A in classic films and 46 percent
<br />Entertainment (25 percentl; had high interest in documen-
<br />The Learning Channel (25 per- taries. Documentaries and
<br />cent); Bravo (25 percentl: classic films ranked among the
<br />CNN/Headline News (23 per.. highest -rated program
<br />cent); CBN Cable Network categories, behind news and
<br />(21 percent); USA Network recent Hollywood films.
<br />(21 percentl; MTV (21 per- I Only 30 percent indicated
<br />cent), Financial News Net- similar interest in off -network
<br />work (20 percent); Tle series and sitcoms from the
<br />Weather Channel 118 percentl; 1950, and 1960s. Other pro -
<br />You TV (18 percenil; Super- gramming which received a
<br />Station TBS 118 percentl; The low rating included game
<br />Nashville Network (17 per- shows (25 percentl, religious
<br />cent); VH-I (16 percent); C- program% 122 percentl, and
<br />SPAN (14 percentl; Lifetime music video@ (15 percent).
<br />(12 percent); and Cable Value
<br />Network (6 percent). "This research reveals a
<br />great deal about the viewing
<br />preferences of non -subscribers
<br />of cable television, and the
<br />direction in which cable opera-
<br />tors must move if cable tele-
<br />vision penetration is expand
<br />much further," said Ruth
<br />Otte, TDC president ai-d chief
<br />operating officer.
<br />According to the survev,
<br />people likely to subscribe were
<br />more likely to be: former cable
<br />subscribers 142 percentl:
<br />people aged 18-49 (41 percent I;
<br />and people with children (4Q
<br />percentl. Only 19 percent of
<br />people likely to subscribe were
<br />aged 50 or older Likelihood to
<br />subscribe generally did not
<br />vary significantiv by other de-
<br />mographic variables.
<br />Respondents were asked
<br />what would be the most the% '
<br />would be willing to pay per
<br />month for cable TV The aver-
<br />age respondent gave a S14
<br />value. Thirjy-one percent
<br />were willing to pay S20 M
<br />more.
<br />According to Beta, the result
<br />indicates that among s signifi-
<br />cant minority, exist was new a
<br />factor for not subscribing to
<br />cable Instead, a limited per-
<br />ception of cable programming
<br />of not being worth the rrtc+tte1
<br />seemed to be the w..:rw fac.
<br />for rJ
<br />
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