More American TV households are receiving cable programming via an alternate delivery system (ADS/satellite) than ever before while wired cable lost 300,000 subscribers and saw its penetration percentage hit a 10-year low, according to a TVB analysis of Nielsen Media Research data for November 2004.

According to Nielsen NTI data, national ADS penetration reached 19.2% in November 2004, up from 18.2% in November 2003. Over the same period, wired cable penetration fell from 67.4% to 66.4%-the last time wired cable was any lower was in December 1994. The number of wired cable subscribers dropped to 72.8 million in November from 73.1 million a year earlier.

Direct broadcast satellite delivery, the largest component of ADS, is now estimated at 18.5%, up from 17.3% in November 2003. ADS now represents 22.7% of subscription television customers.

"Advertisers who buy cable locally need to know that local wired cable systems' ability to deliver commercials continues to erode. In fact, 27 markets now have ADS penetration of 30% or more," said Susan Cuccinello, SVP/TVB. "Local cable commercials are not seen in ADS homes, and so local advertisers need to deduct the ADS percentage of the audience if they are included in the cable systems' submissions."

In November 2003, Nielsen began making available hard-wired local cable numbers and excluding ADS homes via its Total Viewing Sources DVD. But some third-party processors are still adjusting their software products to use the new DVD and the printed Nielsen books do not break out the numbers separately, so advertisers will need to make ADS deductions manually for some time.

Here are two examples of the magnitude of the phenomenon: In Springfield, MO., 47.1% of the multichannel subscriber homes are receiving cable programming via ADS, and in seventh-largest-market Dallas/Ft. Worth, a local advertiser's delivery is cut by 39.4%.

Below are the leading markets for ADS penetration in the top 50 DMAs, DMAs ranked 51-100, and DMAs 101 and higher, according to November 2004 Nielsen Media Research/NSI data:

Top 10 in Markets 1-50
	DMA	ADS as %	ADS as %
	Name	TV HH	Cable+* HH
1	Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-And	30.9	35.5
2	Salt Lake City	29.7	41.1
3	Albuquerque-Santa Fe	29.3	37.6
4	Dallas-Ft. Worth	29.2	39.4
5	Sacramnto-Stktn-Modesto	28.3	33.8
6	Memphis	26.4	32.2
7	Birmingham (Ann and Tusc)	26.3	29.8
8	St. Louis	26.1	33.4
9	Nashville	25.8	30.0
10	Denver	25.6	31.1
* Cable and/or ADS
Top 10 in Markets 51-100
	DMA	ADS as %	ADS as %
	Name	TV HH	Cable+* HH
1	Springfield, MO	36.9	47.1
2	Paducah-Cape Girard-Harsbg	36.2	42.7
3	Shreveport	33.5	38.8
3	Jackson, MS	33.5	38.5
5	Little Rock-Pine Bluff	31.2	36.6
6	Burlington-Plattsburgh	30.5	35.4
7	Roanoke-Lynchburg	30.3	34.8
8	Spokane	28.4	34.5
9	Lexington	27.1	30.6
10	South Bend-Elkhart	26.0	34.2
10	Evansville	26.0	30.5
* Cable and/or ADS
Top 10 in Markets 100+
	DMA	ADS as %	ADS as %
	Name	TV HH	Cable+* HH
1	Twin Falls	39.4	48.4
2	Idaho Falls-Pocatello	37.5	47.6
3	Missoula	36.4	46.6
3	Sherman, TX-Ada, OK	36.4	42.3
5	Meridian	36.1	42.9
6	Ottumwa-Kirksville	35.4	41.4
7	Columbia-Jefferson City	34.1	41.4
8	Columbus-Tupelo-West Point	33.9	39.8
9	Chico-Redding	33.3	40.7
10	Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk	33.2	39.8
10	Tyler-Longview(Lfkn&Ncgd)	33.2	37.7
* Cable and/or ADS