U.S. Cable Industry Economic Impact 2024: Scale, Jobs, Investment

A new NCTA-commissioned study by Chmura Economics & Analytics quantifies the cable industry’s outsized role in U.S. growth, jobs, and digital infrastructure.

2024 Cable Industry by the Numbers: $568.7B Output, 1.3M Jobs

In 2024, the U.S. cable sector generated $568.7 billion in total economic output and supported 1.3 million jobs across the country. This footprint spans broadband networks, video programming, construction, manufacturing, and a broad vendor ecosystem. It underscores why cable remains a central pillar of America’s connectivity and media economy even as consumption shifts to IP and streaming.

Cable Broadband’s Role in U.S. Connectivity and Jobs

Cable broadband providers—led by Comcast, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Cox, Altice USA (Optimum), Mediacom, Cable One (Sparklight), and WOW!—accounted for $366 billion in total economic impact and nearly 888,000 jobs. They deliver 59% of all U.S. fixed internet connections, serving about 80 million subscribers across residential and enterprise segments. In 2024, operators invested $25.1 billion in network expansion, scalable infrastructure, CPE, and support systems, fueling secondary employment in construction, field services, electronics, and logistics.

Programming Economics: Content, Sports, News, and Jobs

The programming side—spanning networks from Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, and Fox, plus independents—generated $196 billion in economic impact and supported more than 351,000 jobs. While cord cutting continues, programming still finances premium content, live sports, news, and local production that sustain regional economies and advertising markets.

State-by-State Impact: California, New York, Texas, Florida Lead

Impact is national but concentrated in the largest economies. California posted $117.4 billion in total impact and 209,000 jobs; New York reached $91.8 billion and 165,000 jobs; Texas recorded $45.8 billion and 116,000 jobs; Florida delivered $43.7 billion and 116,000 jobs. Every state benefits as cable builds, upgrades, and maintains HFC and fiber infrastructure and commissions local production, operations, and customer support.

Growth Drivers: Network Upgrades, Demand Shifts, and Policy

Three forces are propelling cable’s outsized economic effect: network upgrades, traffic growth, and public-private investment.

DOCSIS 4.0, DAA, and Fiber-Deep Upgrades Roadmap

Operators are pushing deeper fiber and distributed access architectures (DAA) using Remote PHY and Remote MACPHY, virtualizing CMTS (vCMTS), and expanding spectrum via mid- and high-split upgrades. DOCSIS 3.1 remains the baseline, while DOCSIS 4.0 and the 10G initiative, championed by CableLabs and SCTE, aim to deliver multi-gigabit, low-latency, more energy-efficient networks. These moves protect share against fiber overbuilds and prepare for bandwidth-heavy applications such as cloud gaming, UHD streaming, AI-assisted collaboration, and AR/VR.

Demand Shifts: Streaming, Hybrid Work, and Managed Wi‑Fi

Streaming is the default, remote and hybrid work persist, and enterprise SaaS is now mission-critical. Traffic profiles skew upstream more than before, pressuring legacy plant until upgrades land. In-home performance is strategic, driving managed Wi-Fi, mesh systems, and Wi-Fi 7 roadmaps. For B2B, DIA, SD-WAN, and SASE bundles are growing as CIOs push resiliency and zero-trust models.

Policy and Funding: BEAD, Permitting, and Public‑Private Investment

Federal and state programs, especially NTIA’s BEAD, are accelerating last-mile builds, backhaul, and middle-mile resilience. While awards roll out unevenly, private capital remains the primary engine of deployment, with public subsidies closing economics in rural and high-cost areas. Ongoing reforms around pole attachments, make-ready, and permitting will materially affect build timelines and job creation.

Strategic Takeaways for Operators, Vendors, and Enterprise IT

The current cycle creates opportunities to capture share, monetize quality, and de-risk delivery across consumer and enterprise segments.

Cable Operators: DOCSIS 4.0, High‑Split, Enterprise Bundles

Prioritize DOCSIS 4.0 and high-split upgrades in competitive census blocks to deliver symmetrical or near-symmetrical tiers and lower latency. Lean into enterprise, SMB, and public sector with DIA, SD-WAN/SASE, managed Wi-Fi, and security to diversify revenue. Expand wholesale and MVNO bundles to improve ARPU and retention. Use network insights and proactive care to improve NPS and reduce churn versus fiber and fixed wireless access (FWA) from Verizon and T-Mobile.

Programmers and Streamers: FAST, Targeted Ads, Sports Rights

Balance linear economics with streaming realities. FAST channels, targeted advertising, and rights packaging around live sports matter as audience fragmentation accelerates. Leverage cable’s distribution, data, and local ad sales to sustain reach while experimenting with direct-to-consumer models and dynamic ad insertion.

Vendors and Builders: Supply, Certification, Sustainability

Prepare for a DOCSIS 4.0 ramp through 2025–2026: secure component supply, certify with CableLabs, and align with operator energy and sustainability goals. Field services should address tight skilled-labor markets with training, safety, and productivity tooling. Expect demand in outside plant construction, optics, amplifiers, CPE, and vCMTS software, with strong pull-through in OSS/BSS automation and service assurance.

Enterprise and Public Sector Buyers: SLAs and Resilience

Use cable’s density to design resilient access with dual-path connectivity across cable, fiber, and 5G. Negotiate SLAs that include jitter and latency for UCaaS and real-time apps. Consider managed LAN/Wi-Fi refreshes, edge caching, and local breakouts for performance-sensitive workloads. Where available, evaluate symmetrical multi-gig tiers and LLD-style capabilities to support AI collaboration and media workflows.

Risks and Watchlist 2024–2026: Competition, Policy, Workforce

Execution risk sits alongside competitive and policy uncertainties that can shift economics by market.

Fiber and FWA Competition: Defend Share with CX and Segmentation

AT&T, Frontier, and regional fiber builders are accelerating passings with aggressive promos, while 5G FWA continues to win price-sensitive households. Operators need sharper segmentation, promo discipline, and superior customer experience to defend share.

Affordability and Demand: Low‑Cost Tiers and Partnerships

Uncertainty around long-term funding for household affordability programs can impact take rates and churn at the low end of the market. Targeted low-cost tiers, prepaid options, and community partnerships will be important hedges.

BEAD and Permitting: Timelines, Poles, and Planning

BEAD awards and state permitting timelines vary widely, creating forecasting and deployment challenges. Early engineering, pole-attachment strategies, and supply-chain buffers will reduce risk to build schedules.

Workforce and Energy: Labor, Power, and Sustainability

Skilled-labor gaps in construction and plant maintenance can delay projects. Energy costs and sustainability commitments will influence outside plant design, amplifier counts, and facility modernization.

Bottom Line: Cable Remains a Core U.S. Growth Engine

Cable remains a core growth engine for the U.S. economy and the backbone for digital services, but capturing the next wave requires disciplined execution and targeted investment.

Key Takeaways: Economic Impact, Upgrades, and State Leaders

The industry delivered $568.7 billion in economic output and 1.3 million jobs in 2024, with broadband driving $366 billion and programming $196 billion. Network upgrades toward DOCSIS 4.0, fiber-deep builds, and virtualization will define competitiveness against fiber and FWA. State-level impacts are substantial, led by California, New York, Texas, and Florida.

Next Steps: Upgrade Priorities, Vendor Readiness, Procurement

Operators should accelerate high-split and DOCSIS 4.0 in competitive zones, bundle enterprise-grade services, and double down on managed in-home performance. Vendors need to lock in supply and certification paths aligned to 10G and low-latency targets. Enterprise buyers should leverage cable density for resilient connectivity and negotiate performance-centric SLAs. Watch BEAD execution, affordability funding, and permitting reforms—they will shape where and how fast the next tranche of investment lands.