If you're looking for a sign of the times for the cable industry, you may not need to look further than Comcast, the country's largest provider of cable services. In December 2007, the Philadelphia-based behemoth lowered its revenue and cash-flow forecast for the third time in a year. Comcast now expects its cash flow to fall some 20 percent, and its stock was down more than 30 percent for the year.
In a company statement, Comcast said, an "increasingly challenging economic and competitive environment" were the reasons for the adjustment. And the company's bad news dragged down shares of fellow cable companies Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. Each company's stock fell some 5 percent on the days following the Comcast news.
So, where is the market heading? Well, it's not nearly as bad as it may appear at first glance, according to Dr. Imran Shah, managing partner and co-founder of IBB Consulting Group, a boutique firm that serves the broadband industry and its service providers in the cable, mobile and media industries.
