It's no surprise that the U.S. wireless industry has undergone significant consolidation over the last decade, especially since 2008, as larger carriers have gobbled up or merged with smaller ones. That consolidation has also been mirrored in the U.S. cable market.
During the past 10 years, the five largest cable carriers have consumed a wide range of smaller, regional carriers, including major players like Optimum West, DukeNet and others. Indeed, the American Cable Association recently said that 1,078 small and rural cable systems serving 50,000 subscribers have shut down since 2008, primarily due to fast-increasing programming costs. The group also said that 47 cable operators shut down 91 systems serving 5,307 customers in 32 states in 2014 alone. Thanks to a handy chart was created by Stacey Horne for FierceCable, we have a depiction of the major acquisitions and mergers consummated by today's top five cable operators during the past 10 years. Check out this special report to take a step back in time, when pay-TV was on the rise and the idea of streaming a video over a dial-up modem was a laughable proposition. Special report