Thomas Eagan, vice president of Oppenheimer‘s subscription TV research group, said that 2005 would be the “last easy year for satellites” competing against cable in the broadcast television market. Eagan attributed the predicted slowdown in DTH’s taking away of market share from cable to a variety of factors. He noted the DTH provides by the end of 2005 will have just about completed their rollouts of local channels. Eagan added that one of the competitive differences between satellite and cable–DTH providers offering of personal video recorders (PVRs)–has gone away as many of the cable companies now offer that service, as well as On Demand services that satellite companies don’t presently offer.

Eagan added that cable is catching up to satellite television in terms of offering high definition content. Plus, satellites could face new competition from telecom providers, as they continue to look to roll out video services. Eagan also pointed out while the telecom companies offering of DTH services started out strong, subscriber growth from that channel has since weakened.

Eagan made his comments at a panel discussion during the Satellite Finance portion of the SATELLITE 2005 conference and exhibition, being held this week at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

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