The National Show in New Orleans is the cable and telecommunications industry’s largest annual convention. Despite competition from satellite, Robert Sachs, President and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association claims “No industry is better positioned than cable to serve consumers’ entertainment, information and telecommunications needs.”

The show has been produced by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) for over fifty years.

Attendees at the annual event include top executives of the national multiple system operators (MSOs) and independent cable systems, cable programming networks, telecommunications companies, hardware, software, and middleware suppliers.

Robert Sachs, President and CEO of the NCTA welcomed delegates saying “cable’s opportunities are virtually unlimited. Advances in technology are taking us places that no one dreamed possible 25 years ago, when I joined this industry.”

In America digital cable penetration now exceeds 30% of all basic cable households. High definition television is available on cable in 99 of the top 100 markets and over 60 million households are passed by cable systems offering video-on demand. More than 20% of cable households use cable modems and broadband growth continues to be robust.

Satellite services from DIRECTV and Dish Network remain formidable competitors, together serving more than 21 million subscribers.

Incumbent telephone companies still serve the vast majority of local phone subscribers and they are aggressively marketing broadband, with 6.5 million DSL customers at the end of last year, up 50% from the year before.

Despite this competition, Sachs claimed “No industry is better positioned than cable to serve consumers’ entertainment, information and telecommunications needs.”