Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Comment: When in a hole, stop digging

Thursday 07 August 1997 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The cable industry is so used to peering down black holes and then putting on a brave face that Telewest's investors could be forgiven for interpreting yesterday's restructuring plans as just one more hopeful stab in the dark.

Whether the cutbacks go far enough is debatable, but what Telewest has finally admitted - that the investment bonanza is well and truly over - is just as applicable to all the other companies still merrily digging away as their shares slide.

But savage cost cutting on its own will never be enough, unless Telewest and its peers can encourage more people to buy their services.

Without BSkyB's help the cable companies can do nothing. Their best hope is that Oftel will emerge as a fairy godmother, nudging BSkyB into renegotiating the complex structure of programming charges. But BSkyB, as always, is not going to fall over itself to help the cable industry as it plans a rival digital satellite service.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in