The cable operator also said the total of high-def subscribers at the end of the first quarter increased 12 percent since December 2007. Like other TV providers, Cablevision benefited from the sharp increase in high-def set sales during the 2007 holidays.
Cablevision made the subscriber disclosures today in an analyst call following the release of its first quarter report.
Company COO Tom Rutledge also noted today that Cablevision's HD sub increase came as the cable operator expanded its high-def programming lineup.
"At this time last year, we offered 23 High-Definition (channels," )Rutledge said. "Just one year later, that number is now 45 and we intend to increase the number of HD services further throughout the year.
Cablevision has 3.1 million subscribers overall, which means that roughly 35 percent of its audience is subscribing to high-def.
Cablevision executives also refused to comment on questions about the future of the Voom 15-channel HD programming service which Dish Network has threatened to remove from its high-def lineup.
Dish and Voom are battling over the carriage agreement in court, but Voom's request for an injunction to bar Dish from eliminating the channels was recently rejected. Dish is still offering the Voom channels in a programming tier that has fewer viewers, but won't comment on whether it plans to drop them entirely.
"With respect to the Voom litigation with EchoStar (Dish's sister company), because this litigation is still pending in court, it’s not going to be appropriate for us to comment further at this time about what we might do," said Josh Sapan, CEO of Rainbow Media, Voom's parent company, which is owned by Cablevision.
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