CompleteCoverage: Cable Show 2013
Washington, D.C. - John Malone and broadband pricing power
are some of the biggest positives in the cable industry today, while rising programming
costs and regulatory uncertainty continue to be the biggest drags on stocks,
according to an analyst panel at the Cable Show Monday.
Kicking off "The Macro View: Investment Analysts on Cable's
Economic Outlook," panel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica
Reif Cohen said the return of Liberty Media chairman Malone, after
a $2.6 billion investment in Charter Communications, has been a "big boost
of confidence" for the industry," and it has restarted consolidation talk. She
added that the continued strong pricing power of cable broadband service,
despite its maturity, is an added boon.
But Reif Cohen said increased programming costs continue to
drag on the stocks.
