Remember that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cable pricing study from last week? The one that enraged cable execs because it stressed how much monthly cable prices have gone up and ignored per-channel rates? (See FCC Jabs Cable Costs, Pricing Policies .)

Well, it turns out that there are some other interesting tidbits to share from the report. For one thing, while expanded basic cable rates rose 5.2 percent to $3.04 a month, basic digital tier rates edged up a scant 1.2 percent to $12.99. Plus, the average number of digital channels offered in this package rose 7.7 percent to 33.7 channels. So it looks like digital customers may be getting a better deal than their analog counterparts these days.

In other findings, the FCC study found that: 37 percent of all cable customers now subscribe to digital video service; 87 percent of all cable subscribers are served by systems with 750 MHz capacity or more; 96 percent of all subs are served by systems offering Internet access; and 42 percent of all subs are now offered cable phone service.

All these numbers date back to the start of 2005. So they're all undoubtedly higher today. How much higher is anyone's guess.

— Alan Breznick, Site Editor, Cable Digital News