Product Differentiation in Cable Programming: The Case in the Cable National All-News Networks

Product competition for news viewers in the cable national all-news market was examined. As the cable news networks do not directly compete with each other on price to consumers, it was expected that they would compete for audience by differentiating programming. A content analysis identifies program differentiation among the competing cable all-news networks. Each offered a distinctive style of programming. The different program formats and substantive content in each have the effect of counterprogramming, giving viewers a choice.