Giving networks some numbers they may be able to use to debunk arguments that basic-cable schedules are jammed with repeats of broadcast fare, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau said it found that 72 percent of ad-supported cable programming is original.
The CAB -- which based that figure on a survey of 51 ad-supported networks that began in September -- defines original programming as content that appears first on cable, spokesman Steve Raddock said.
Theatricals that run on basic-cable networks like USA Network, Turner Network Television and A&E Network are also considered original, he added.
When the CAB conducted a similar study two years ago, it found that about 70 percent of programming on ad-supported networks was original, Raddock said.
