Korean Cable operators offer heads up from the Far East

Perhaps it's a cautionary tale for the U.S. cable industry; perhaps it's smoke in the wind and just a reflection of different cultures. Whatever. It's worth noting that reports from Korea, that hotbed of electronic innovation, say that cable TV might be having a little trouble holding its own in a world of increasingly competitive distractions.

Korea Cable Television Association President Kil Jong-sup used his bully pulpit at the KCTA Digital Cable TV Show (obviously these guys don't shy away from the cable TV nomenclature) to dismiss any notions that his members aren't taking the bull by the horns. Korean cable operators, he said, are proactively embracing new broadcasting technologies and content development and staying ahead of a curve even as more televisions plug directly into the Internet.

Besides, he added, there should be a nice business uptick when Korea's analog-to-digital transition happens in 2012. The KCTA thinks about 70 percent of households with cable will transfer to digital cable by 2011, compared to 2 million digital subs as of last December.

For more
- see this article from The Korea Times

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