The Change Mariner

Foreign Shows A Draw for Satellite TV

NEwsJournal:
Regardless of whether they transmit via cable or satellite, all of the pay television companies are racing to offer something beyond the basics, said Michael Paxton, a senior analyst at a market research firm called In-Stat/MDR. The firm breaks down America's cable and satellite households this way: 69.5 million get cable, 9 million get EchoStar's Dish Network and 12 million get DirecTV's satellite offerings.

"Both cable and satellite operators can offer oodles of channels - more channels than anyone would want to watch. The challenge there is to offer what else people would want," Paxton said.

International TV is one of those wants, according to EchoStar.

That was true for Vera Jarrett, who signed up for the Dish Network when she moved to Katonah, N.Y., from Brazil with her husband, Ian, whose job at Kraft brought him to the United States.

Jarrett speaks her native Portuguese at home, but she doesn't know anyone with whom she can speak Italian and French. "I wanted these international channels, like RAI from Italy and TV5 from France," Jarrett said.

Demographic trends that show a rising Hispanic population can only feed demand for Spanish-language and other international programming, said John Scarborough, EchoStar's senior vice president of marketing.

"The diversity of the U.S. population represents a great opportunity when it comes to offering customers more than just the traditional channels," he said.