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Insight Announces Third Quarter 2003 Results

New York – October 31, 2003 –

Insight Communications Company (Nasdaq: ICCI) today reported financial information for the quarter ended September 30, 2003.

The Company announced selected quarterly financial results on October 29, 2003. Full financial results were delayed pending the decision of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) regarding SFAS No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity”, in particular its guidance for the treatment of minority interest. All results presented in the original earnings release on October 29, 2003 are unaffected by this decision as it relates to minority interest. Attached below is a complete discussion of operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2003 and 2002, including the items discussed in the previous press release, which remain unchanged. Also included are the consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations, and other supplemental financial and operating statistics which typically accompany Insight’s quarterly earnings release.

Operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2003 compared to the three months ended September 30, 2002

The $22.3 million or 11% increase in revenue was primarily a result of gains in high-speed Internet and digital service revenue, which increased 57% and 30% over the prior year’s quarter, primarily due to an increased customer base. In addition, basic cable service revenue increased 5%, primarily due to basic rate increases.

Revenue Generating Units (“RGUs”) were approximately 1,934,900 as of September 30, 2003 compared to approximately 1,753,600 as of September 30, 2002. This represents a growth rate of 10%. Giving effect to the Griffin swap, RGUs grew 10% from the prior year quarter. RGUs represent the sum of basic, digital, high-speed Internet, and telephone customers.

Average monthly revenue per basic customer, including management fee revenue and SourceSuite revenue, was $58.81 for the three months ended September 30, 2003, compared to $53.24 for the three months ended September 30, 2002 primarily reflecting the continued successful rollout of new product offerings in all markets. Average monthly revenue per basic customer for high-speed Internet and digital service increased to $11.78 for the three months ended September 30, 2003, up from $8.25 for the three months ended September 30, 2002.

Programming and other operating costs increased $10.8 million or 15%. Programming costs increased 5%, primarily attributable to increased programming rates, an increase in customers served, and additional programming in the newly rebuilt systems. These increases were offset by a $3.1 million credit due to the settlement of a programming contract. Excluding the settlement of the programming contract, programming costs increased 11%. Other operating costs increased 44%, primarily attributable to increased high-speed Internet costs driven by the net addition of 83,900 high-speed Internet customers, year over year. In addition, labor costs increased due to the transition from upgrade activities to maintenance activities associated with the growth of new customers.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $5.5 million or 13%, primarily as a result of increased costs related to annual salary increases and payroll related costs for existing employees, some of which are one-time expenses, as well as the addition of new employees. In addition, marketing expenses increased to support the continued roll-out of new products; legal fees also increased related to ongoing litigation. Partially offsetting these increases was an increase in marketing support funds (recorded as a reduction to selling, general and administrative expenses) for the promotion of new channel launches.

Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $5.8 million or 9%, primarily as a result of a one-time $11.1 million write-down of obsolete video on demand equipment in the three months ended September 30, 2002. Excluding this impairment charge, depreciation and amortization increased $5.3 million or 10%, primarily as a result of additional capital expenditures through September 30, 2003 to support the continued rebuild of the Illinois systems, extend the plant, and continue the rollout of digital, high-speed Internet and telephone services to existing and new service areas.

Operating cash flow (“OCF”) increased $6.0 million or 6%, primarily due to increased basic, digital and high-speed Internet revenue, offset by increases in programming and other operating costs and selling, general and administrative costs. The following is a reconciliation of operating income to OCF:

Three months ended September 30,
	2003	2002
(in thousands)
Operating income	$ 41,833	$ 30,052
Adjustment:
Depreciation and amortization	56,667	62,450
Operating Cash Flow	$ 98,500	$ 92,502

Interest expense remained relatively flat quarter over quarter. The increase of $3.3 million or 7% is primarily due to the inclusion of $5.0 million of accruals for preferred interests in accordance with SFAS No. 150, effective July 1, 2003. Previously, the accrual was treated as a dividend below net income or loss. Additionally, the increase is related to higher outstanding debt, which averaged $2.7 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2003, versus $2.5 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2002. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in interest expense due to lower interest rates, which averaged 7.6% for the three months ended September 30, 2003, versus 8.7% for the three months ended September 30, 2002.

Minority interest decreased $21.4 million or 184% to expense of $9.8 million from income of $11.6 million. The decrease is a direct result of the increase in net income attributable to common interests recorded by Insight Midwest primarily due to the gain on settlement of a programming contract partially offset by the loss from the extinguishment of the Coaxial debt.

For the three months ended September 30, 2003, the net loss was $8.8 million.

Insight Communications (NASDAQ: ICCI) is the 9th largest cable operator in the United States, serving approximately 1.4 million customers in the four contiguous states of Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Insight specializes in offering bundled, state-of-the-art services in mid-sized communities, delivering basic and digital video, high-speed Internet and the recent deployment of voice telephony in selected markets to its customers.



Any statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "estimate," "expect," "anticipate" and other expressions that indicate future events and trends identify forward-looking statements. The above forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based upon a variety of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those Insight Communications anticipates. Factors that could have a material and adverse impact on actual results include competition, increasing programming costs, changes in laws and regulations, our substantial debt and the other risk factors described in Insight Communications' annual report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2002. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified by reference to the cautionary statements included in Insight Communications' Form 10-K.

Supplemental Information & Quarterly Operating Statistics (MS Word)