Back to GetFilings.com

Table of Contents

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004

Insight Midwest, L.P.

Insight Capital, Inc.

(Exact name of registrants as specified in their charters)

c/o Insight Communications Company, Inc.

810 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York, 10019

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrants’ telephone number, including area code: (917) 286-2300

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether each registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrants were required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants’ knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. Not Applicable

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes ¨ No x

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrants: Not Applicable

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of the registrants’ common stock: Not Applicable

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

ii

Table of Contents

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the information in this report contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate” and “continue” or similar words. You should read statements that contain these words carefully because they:

We believe it is important to communicate our expectations to our investors. However, there may be events in the future that we are not able to accurately predict or over which we have no control. The risk factors listed in this report, as well as any other cautionary language in this report, provide examples of risks, uncertainties and events that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements. Examples of these risks include our history and expectation of future net losses, our substantial debt, changes in laws and regulations, increasing programming costs and competition. You should be aware that the occurrence of the events described in these risk factors and elsewhere in this report could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

iii

Table of Contents

PART I

In this report, we rely on and refer to information and statistics regarding the cable television industry and our market share in the sectors in which we compete. We obtained this information and statistics from various third-party sources, discussions with our customers and our own internal estimates. We believe that these sources and estimates are reliable, but we have not independently verified them and cannot guarantee their accuracy or completeness.

Our Manager

Insight Communications Company, Inc. is the ninth largest cable television system operator in the United States based on customers served. Insight Communications currently serves our approximately 1.3 million customers, all of which are concentrated in the four contiguous states of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio. Our manager offers its customers an array of broadband products and services, including analog and digital video, high-speed Internet access and telephone services.

Insight Midwest

We are owned 50% by our manager and 50% by an indirect subsidiary of Comcast Cable Holdings, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. Our manager serves as our general partner and as the manager of each of our systems.

Our principal offices are located at c/o Insight Communications Company, Inc., 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York 10019, and our telephone number is (917) 286-2300.

Insight Capital, Inc.

Insight Capital, Inc. (the “Company”), a Delaware corporation, was formed on September 23, 1999, for the sole purpose of being a co-issuer with Insight Midwest, L.P. (“Insight Midwest”) of senior notes which allows certain investors the ability to be holders of the debt. The Company has no operations. The outstanding shares of the Company are owned by Insight Midwest.

Recent Developments

On March 7, 2005, our manager received a proposal from Sidney R. Knafel and Michael Willner, together with certain related and other parties (the “Controlling Shareholders”), and The Carlyle Group to acquire all of our manager’s outstanding, publicly-held Class A common stock. Our manager’s Board of Directors has appointed a special committee of independent directors to review this proposal. The proposal specifically states that the Controlling Shareholders will roll over a substantial majority of their ownership in our manager and will retain control.

Strategy

Our strategy is to be a full-service provider of entertainment, information and communications services. This strategy is centered on offering attractive products and services which will be valued by our customers, and providing the highest level of customer service. We focus on building strong relationships within the communities in which we operate because we believe our local presence and relationships with our communities and customers distinguishes us from our competitors and results in higher customer satisfaction. In addition, we intend to continue to leverage the capacity and capability of our upgraded broadband network to develop new and enhanced products and services for our customers.

Deliver excellent customer service and enhance community relations

We believe that our commitment to customers and the communities in which we operate enhances

1

Table of Contents

our ability to attract and retain customers in a competitive environment. We also believe that providing outstanding customer service and creating a positive corporate image in our communities enhances our ability to sell new products and services.

We seek to secure a high level of customer satisfaction by employing localized customer care, extensively using market research and providing customers with an attractively priced product offering. A significant number of our customers visit their local office on a monthly basis, providing us the opportunity to demonstrate and sell our new and enhanced products and services. We believe that these distinct marketing and promotion opportunities are effective sales channels, providing a competitive advantage as well as enhancing customer loyalty.

In addition, we are dedicated to fostering strong relations in the communities we serve. We sponsor local charities and community causes through staged events and promotional campaigns, including the industry’s Cable in the Classroom program. We believe an emphasis on customer service and strong community involvement leads to higher customer satisfaction, reduced customer churn and excellent franchise relationships. To further strengthen community relations and differentiate us from direct broadcast satellite television systems and other multichannel video providers, we provide locally produced and oriented programming that offers, among other things, community information, local government proceedings and local specialty interest shows. In some of our markets, we are the only broadcaster of local high school sporting events, which allows us to provide important programming that builds customer loyalty.

Focus on operating large, tightly-grouped clusters of cable systems in markets with attractive demographic profiles

In addition to its geographic concentration, our communications network is tightly-grouped, or “clustered,” with approximately 97% of our customers served from 14 headends, or an average of approximately 91,000 customers per headend (a headend processes signals received for distribution to customers over our network). As a result, the amount of capital necessary to deploy new and enhanced products and services is significantly reduced on a per home basis. We believe that the highly clustered nature of our systems also enables us to more efficiently deploy our marketing dollars and maximizes our ability to enhance customer awareness, increase use of our products and services and build brand support.

Our geographic concentration enables our local management teams to focus on the customer experience within their communities. We believe that the deployment of these local resources and our local expertise provides us with a significant advantage over our competitors, and is a key component of our operating strategy.

Many communities we serve are characterized by good housing growth, higher than average household income and low unemployment, and many are centered around large universities and major commercial enterprises. We believe that the demographic profile of our communities make them attractive markets for our existing and new products.

Leverage our advanced broadband network to offer bundled services and introduce new and enhanced products

Our advanced broadband network provides significant capacity and flexibility to offer our customers an array of products and services. The capacity of a cable system to offer products and services is determined by its bandwidth. As of December 31, 2004, we estimate that approximately 97% of our customers were passed by our upgraded network, with a bandwidth capacity of 750 megahertz (MHz) or

2

Table of Contents

greater. At the end of 2004, digital cable was available to 96% of basic customers passed by our broadband network, high-speed Internet was available to 98% of homes passed and telephone service was available to 32% of homes passed.

Our marketing strategy is to offer our customers an array of entertainment, information and communications services on a bundled basis. A bundled customer is one who subscribes to two or more of our primary services (video, high-speed Internet access and telephone). Where available, all of our services are offered on a bundled basis, supported by a single, integrated back-office platform, which allows our customers to make one call to a single customer service representative regarding any and all of their services and to receive a single bill for all services if they choose. By bundling our products and services, we provide our customers with increased choice in value-added packages, which we believe results in higher customer satisfaction, increased use of our services and greater customer retention.

Pursue value-enhancing transactions in nearby or adjacent geographies

We will seek to swap or acquire systems that strategically fit our clustering and operating strategy and are accretive to our value. We do not currently have any agreements, commitments or understandings for any future acquisitions. There is no assurance that any additional acquisitions will be completed. We believe that by acquiring or swapping systems in close proximity we have the opportunity to improve revenue growth and operating margins. This is achieved through the consolidation of headends, spreading of fixed costs over larger systems and increased operating efficiencies associated with larger systems.

Technical Overview

We believe that in order to achieve consistently high levels of customer service, reduce operating costs, maintain a strong competitive position and deploy important new technologies, we need to maintain a state-of-the-art technical platform. The deployment of fiber optic cable which has a capacity for a very large number of channels, the increase in the bandwidth to 750 MHz or higher, the activation of a two-way communications network and the installation of digital equipment allows us to deliver new and enhanced products and services, including interactive digital video, high-speed Internet services and telephone services.

As of December 31, 2004, our systems were comprised of approximately 30,200 network miles serving approximately 1.3 million customers and passing approximately 2.4 million homes resulting in a density of approximately 79 homes per mile. As of that date, our systems were made up of an aggregate of 31 headends, and approximately 97% of our customers were served by 14 headends. As of December 31, 2004, we estimate that approximately 97% of our customers were passed by our upgraded network.

Our network design calls for an analog and digital two-way active network with fiber optic cable carrying signals from the headend to the distribution point within our customers’ neighborhoods. The signals are transferred to our coaxial cable network at the node for delivery to our customers. We have designed the fiber system to be capable of subdividing the nodes if traffic on the network requires additional capacity.

We believe that active use of fiber optic technology as a supplement to coaxial cable plays a major role in expanding channel capacity and improving the performance of our systems. Fiber optic strands are capable of carrying hundreds of video, data and voice channels over extended distances without the extensive signal amplification typically required for coaxial cable. We will continue to deploy fiber optic cable to further reduce amplifier cascades while improving picture quality and system reliability.

3

Table of Contents

A direct result of this extensive use of fiber optics is an improvement in picture quality and a reduction of outages because system failures will be both significantly reduced and will impact far fewer customers when they do occur. Our design allows our systems to have the capability to run multiple separate channel line-ups from a single headend and to insert targeted advertisements into specific neighborhoods.

We are improving the reliability of telephone services by implementing standby powering and status monitoring on our local network as telephone services are deployed in our systems. The existing commercial power structure deployed in cable networks is subject to potential disruptions in local power utility service. Standby power will provide battery back-up for a limited duration, thereby making both telephone services and other products and services delivered over our local network more reliable. Status monitoring will enable us to monitor key components of our local network so that we can help reduce and diagnose problems affecting the performance of our local network.

Products and Services

We offer our customers a full array of traditional cable television services and programming offerings. We tailor both our basic line-up and our additional channel offerings to each regional system in response to demographics, programming preferences, competition and local regulation. We offer a basic level of service which includes up to 28 channels of television programming. As of December 31, 2004, approximately 91% of our customers chose to pay an additional amount to receive additional channels under our “Classic” or “expanded” service. Premium channels, which are offered individually or in packages of several channels, are optional add-ons to the basic service or the classic service. As of December 31, 2004, premium units as a percentage of basic subscribers was approximately 42%.

As network upgrades were activated, we deployed new and enhanced products and services in substantially all of our markets, including interactive digital video and high-speed Internet services. In addition, we are offering telephone services to our customers in selected markets.

Analog Video

Our analog cable television service offering includes the following:

4

Table of Contents

Interactive Digital Video

The implementation of interactive digital technology significantly enhances and expands the video and service offerings we provide to our customers. Because of the significantly increased bandwidth and two-way transmission capability of our state-of-the-art technical platform, we have designed a more extensive digital product that is rich in attractive features and provides customers with a high degree of interactive capability. Our interactive digital service is designed to exploit the advantages of a broadband network in the existing generation of set-top devices. The digital service encompasses three interactive applications: (1) an interactive program guide; (2) interactive local information and community guides; and (3) a video-on-demand service.

We have conducted numerous focus groups and commissioned research studies, the findings of which have helped to develop our interactive digital strategy. We believe that our digital penetration will continue to increase as a result of our differentiated services such as a graphically rich local information network and video-on-demand pay-per-view with full VCR functionality.

We are packaging our digital service under the “Insight Digital” brand, which includes the following features:

We offer a high-definition programming service consisting of broadcast networks and premium channels. Digital customers with high-definition television (HDTV) sets can purchase an HDTV receiver and any high-definition programming that is available from local broadcasters. HDTV customers who have HBO or Showtime would receive any HDTV programs available from these networks as well. We believe that offering HDTV programming from local broadcasters puts us in a favorable competitive position with the direct broadcast satellite television distributors which have limited HDTV programming due to capacity restrictions.

Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Insight Interactive, LLC, our interactive digital platform provides its local, interactive Internet-style service and an interactive program guide. For an additional monthly charge over our Insight Digital price, we also offer a single digital set-top box which integrates our existing HDTV programming and video-on-demand services with a new digital video recorder (DVR) service. These advanced services are supported by Gemstar-TV Guide’s interactive program guide.

5

Table of Contents

Our digital customers are served by a video-on-demand (VOD) infrastructure provided by SeaChange International, Inc. Customers receive the movies electronically over the network and have full VCR functionality, including pause, play, fast forward and rewind. The movies are delivered with a high quality digital picture and digital sound. Our video-on-demand product is designed to provide movies at prices comparable to those charged for videotape rentals, pay-per-view and near video-on-demand movies, but with far greater convenience and functionality. Additionally, customers who subscribe to premium services, such as HBO and Showtime, can access selected movies and original programming from these networks at no additional cost to their regular monthly premium channel fee utilizing our video-on-demand system. Insight’s video-on-demand system also provides free content from certain cable networks including the NFL Network, Food Network, DIY Network and the National Geographic Channel to any digital customer with VOD access. As of December 31, 2004, approximately 35% of our customers had access to video-on-demand services.

High-Speed Internet

We offer high-speed Internet service for personal computers for all of our upgraded systems through our own regional network branded Insight Broadband^SM, except for our Columbus, Ohio system, which utilizes the RoadRunner service. AT&T Corp. provides the IP network backbone for our Insight Broadband service and certain core Internet support functions. As of December 31, 2004, high-speed Internet services were available in over 2.3 million of our homes and served approximately 330,500 of our customers.

The broad bandwidth of our cable network enables data to be transmitted significantly faster than traditional telephone-based modem technologies, and the cable connection does not interfere with normal telephone activity or usage. For example, cable’s on-line customers can download large files from the Internet in a fraction of the time it takes when using any widely available telephone modem technology. Moreover, surfing the Internet on a high-speed network removes the long delays for Web pages to fully appear on the computer screen, allowing the experience to more closely approximate the responsiveness of changing channels on a television set. In addition, the cable modem is always on and does not require the customer to dial into an Internet service provider and await authorization. We believe that these factors of speed and easy accessibility will increase the use and impact of the Internet.

Telephone Services

On December 31, 2004, we acquired from Comcast Cable and certain of its subsidiaries the circuit-switched telephone business previously operated jointly by us and Comcast Cable in selected markets. Under the joint operating agreement, we leased certain capacity on our local network infrastructure to Comcast Cable for which we received a fee, and we provided certain services and support for which we received additional payments related to installation, marketing and billing. Comcast Cable provided the necessary switching and transport. Under the “Insight Phone” brand, telephone services are currently available in portions of the Louisville, Kentucky, Evansville, Indiana, Lexington, Kentucky, and Columbus, Ohio areas and were available to a total of approximately 768,828 marketable homes passed, with approximately 64,286 customers as of December 31, 2004. By acquiring ownership of the telephone business from Comcast Cable, we have gained both operational and strategic control over this business.

We intend to offer a phone service delivered over our broadband communications networks transmitting voice signals in data packets using Internet protocol. We currently anticipate that this service will be made available in almost all of our markets during 2005, with launches within the markets to be made on a node-by-node basis.

6

Table of Contents

Business Background of Our Manager

Insight Communications was co-founded in 1985 as a limited partnership under the name Insight Communications Company, L.P. by Sidney R. Knafel and Michael S. Willner after a previous association with one another at Vision Cable Communications where Mr. Knafel was co-founder and Chairman and Mr. Willner held various operating positions, ultimately holding the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Vision Cable was sold to The Newhouse Group Inc. in 1981 and Mr. Willner remained there to run the cable operations until 1985 when he and Mr. Knafel formed Insight Communications.

In addition to many years of conventional cable television experience, Insight Communications’ management team has been involved in the development and deployment of full service communications networks since 1989. Through a then related entity, Insight Communications Company UK, L.P., Insight Communications’ management and related parties entered the cable television market in the United Kingdom, where today modern networks are widely deployed.

As a result of its management’s British experience, Insight Communications recognized that the technology and products developed in the United Kingdom would migrate to the United States in similar form. Insight Communications focused on planning to upgrade our network promptly after it became clear that the 1996 Telecom Act would encourage competition in the communications industries. Insight Communications understood, however, that the new products and services available with new technology were best deployed in markets which provided for efficiencies for branding and technical investment. Insight Communications’ original acquisition strategy, which focused on customer growth, was very successful. However, Insight Communications’ management team recognized the opportunity to evolve from our role as a cable television operator providing only home video entertainment into a full service alternative communications network providing not only standard video services, but also interactive digital video, high-speed Internet access and communications products and services.

Recognizing the opportunities presented by newly available products and services and favorable changes in the regulatory environment, Insight Communications executed a series of asset swaps, acquisitions and entered into several joint ventures that resulted in its current composition. The largest of these transactions were the 50/50 joint ventures formed with Comcast Cable (formerly known as AT&T Broadband) and its affiliates in October 1998 with respect to the Indiana systems, in October 1999 with respect to the Kentucky systems and on January 5, 2001 with respect to the Illinois systems. As of December 31, 1997, Insight Communications’ systems had approximately 180,000 customers with the two largest concentrations in Utah and Indiana, which together represented less than half of its customers. Insight Communications believes that it has successfully transformed its assets so that it currently owns, operates and manages a cable television network serving approximately 1.4 million customers, all of which are clustered in the contiguous states of Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio. Insight Communications’ current assets are reflective of its strategy to own systems that have high ratios of customers to headends.

In July 1999, the holders of the partnership interests of Insight Communications Company, L.P, (“Insight LP”) exchanged their respective partnership interests for common stock of Insight Communications. As a result, Insight LP became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Insight Communications. Simultaneous with the exchange, Insight Communications consummated an initial public offering of 26,450,000 shares of its Class A common stock, raising an aggregate of approximately $650.0 million. Insight Communications’ Class A common stock is currently listed on The Nasdaq National Market under the symbol “ICCI.”

7

Table of Contents

Our Systems

Our systems in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio serve approximately 1.3 million customers. We are the largest operator of cable systems in Kentucky and the second-largest in both Indiana and Illinois. Our systems are clustered to serve an average of 91,000 customers per headend.

We are able to realize significant operational synergies due to the size of the clusters in these states and the demographic proximity of all of our systems. In all of our systems, we have substantially completed upgrading our system infrastructures to enable us to deliver new technologies, products and services to provide our customers with greater value and choices in the face of growing competition. As network upgrades were activated, we deployed new and enhanced products and services in substantially all of our markets, including interactive digital video and high-speed Internet services. In addition, we are offering telephone services to our customers in selected markets.

The highly clustered nature of our systems enables us to (a) more efficiently invest our marketing dollars and maximize our brand awareness, (b) more economically introduce new and enhanced services, and (c) reduce our overall operating and maintenance costs as a result of our ability to deploy fiber and reduce the number of headends we use throughout our systems. As a result, we believe we are able to achieve improved operating performance on both a combined and system-wide basis. Our relationship with Comcast Cable provides us with substantial purchasing economies for both our programming and hardware needs.

The East Region

As of December 31, 2004, the East Region passed approximately 815,900 homes and served approximately 409,100 customers. Approximately 98% of our customers in the East Region are served by eight headends. The East Region, comprised of systems located within the States of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, is organized in six management districts:

The Central District

As of December 31, 2004, the Central District passed approximately 148,400 homes and served approximately 79,000 customers, principally in the community of Bloomington. The City of Bloomington, located 45 miles south of Indianapolis, is the home of Indiana University. Besides the University, major employers include Bloomington Hospital, Cook Incorporated and General Electric.

The Southwest District

As of December 31, 2004, the Southwest District passed approximately 130,000 homes and served approximately 58,800 customers, principally in the communities of Evansville, Boonville, Mt. Vernon, Princeton and Jasper, Indiana, as well as Henderson, Kentucky. Major employers include Alcoa, Whirlpool and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

In January 2003, HDTV was launched in this District. Telephone service is now fully deployed in Evansville, Boonville and Mt. Vernon, Indiana, as well as in Henderson, Kentucky.

SIGECOM, LLC has overbuilt the City of Evansville, providing cable television, high-speed Internet and telephone services in the City of Evansville and neighboring areas. We believe the SIGECOM overbuild passed approximately 83,000 homes in our service area as of December 31, 2004.

8

Table of Contents

The Lexington District

As of December 31, 2004, the Lexington District passed approximately 129,000 homes and served approximately 82,400 customers from a single headend. Lexington is Kentucky’s second largest city, located in the central part of the state. Major employers in the Lexington area include the University of Kentucky, Toyota and Lexmark International.

As of December 31, 2004, over 44% of customers have subscribed to our interactive Insight Digital service. Approximately 24% of customers have Insight Broadband high-speed Internet service. Our phone service is available in over 92% of Lexington.

The Northern Kentucky District

As of December 31, 2004, the Northern Kentucky District passed approximately 155,800 homes and served approximately 80,700 customers from a single headend primarily in the City of Covington. Covington is Kentucky’s fifth largest city. Major employers in the Covington area include Delta Airlines, Toyota, Citicorp, DHL, Ashland, Inc., Fidelity Investments, BICC General Cable Corporation, Omnicare, COMAIR, Levis Strauss, Gap, Inc., Mazak Corp. and R.A. Jones, Inc.

The Bowling Green District

As of December 31, 2004, the Bowling Green District passed approximately 37,000 homes and served approximately 23,600 customers from a single headend. Bowling Green is located 120 miles south of Louisville, 110 miles southwest of Lexington and 70 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee. Bowling Green is the fourth largest city in Kentucky and is the home of Western Kentucky University. Major employers in the Bowling Green area include General Motors, Fruit of the Loom, Commonwealth Health Corporation, DESA International and Houchens Industries.

The Columbus District

As of December 31, 2004, the Columbus District passed approximately 215,200 homes and served approximately 84,500 customers from a single headend. The District serves the eastern portion of the City of Columbus and adjacent suburban communities within eastern Franklin County and the contiguous counties of Delaware, Licking, Fairfield and Pickaway. The City of Columbus is the 34th largest designated market area, the capital of Ohio and the home of Ohio State University. In addition to the state government and university, the Columbus economy is well diversified with the significant presence of prominent companies such as The Limited, Merck, Wendy’s, Nationwide Insurance, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Worthington Industries.

As of December 31, 2004, approximately 36,800 of customers have subscribed to our interactive Insight Digital service, representing a penetration of nearly 48% in areas where digital service is available. The RoadRunner high-speed Internet service, launched in 2000, has achieved a penetration of approximately 15% as of December 31, 2004 in areas where service is available. We have launched a telephone service alternative to SBC (Ameritech) in the Columbus District. In addition, the Columbus District provides exclusive local sports and entertainment programming, featuring a variety of sporting events from area high schools and the Ohio State University to Columbus Clippers baseball and Columbus Crew major league soccer.

In 1996, Ameritech obtained a citywide cable television franchise for the City of Columbus and most other suburban communities in Franklin County. WideOpenWest acquired the assets of Ameritech in December 2001, and has built its system, both in our service area and in the Time Warner service area on the west side of Columbus. The areas of the Columbus District served by both us and WideOpenWest

9

Table of Contents

pass approximately 130,800 homes, representing 61% of the Columbus District’s total homes passed as of December 31, 2004.

The West Region

As of December 31, 2004, the West Region passed approximately 1,011,300 homes and served approximately 591,700 customers. Approximately 95% of our customers in the West Region are served by five headends. The West Region, comprised of systems located within the States of Indiana and Illinois, is organized in six management districts:

The Northwest District

As of December 31, 2004, the Northwest District passed approximately 107,700 homes and served approximately 68,300 customers, principally in the communities of Lafayette and Kokomo. The City of Lafayette is the home of Purdue University. Besides Purdue University, major employers include Eli Lilly, Subaru, Caterpillar, Great Lakes Chemical, Lafayette Life Insurance, Delphi Electronics and Chrysler.

The Northeast District

As of December 31, 2004, the Northeast District passed approximately 206,000 homes and served approximately 118,000 customers in Richmond as well as in the suburban communities near Indianapolis, including Noblesville and extending north to Anderson and east to Richmond, Indiana. Indianapolis is the state capital of Indiana and is the twelfth largest city in the United States. Major employers include General Motors and Eli Lilly

The Northern Illinois District

As of December 31, 2004, the Northern Illinois District, which is comprised of Rockford and Dixon, Illinois, passed approximately 203,800 homes and served approximately 117,300 customers. Rockford is Illinois’ second largest city. Major employers in the Rockford metropolitan area include Chrysler Corporation, Rockford Health System, Sundstrand Corporation and Swedish American Health Systems.

Dixon customers are principally in the communities of Rock Falls, Peru and Dixon. Dixon is located in the north/central part of the State of Illinois. Major employers in the Dixon area include the State of Illinois, Raynor Manufacturing Company and Borg Warner Automotive.

Approximately 95% of the Northern Illinois District currently operates with a network of 750 MHz or higher. As of December 31, 2004, the district achieved penetration levels for its digital service of approximately 30% in areas where the service is available.

The Peoria District

As of December 31, 2004, the Peoria District passed approximately 203,900 homes and served approximately 123,000 customers, principally in the communities of Bloomington and Peoria, Illinois. Bloomington is located in the north central part of the state. The Bloomington system is home to Illinois State University with over 19,800 students and Illinois Wesleyan University with over 2,100 students. The major employers in Bloomington are State Farm Insurance and Mitsubishi Motor Company of America. Peoria is the fifth largest city in Illinois, located in the north central part of the state. The Peoria system is

10

Table of Contents

home to Bradley University. Major employers in the Peoria area include the world headquarters of Caterpillar and R.L. Nelson Corp.

The Peoria District completed the upgrade of all but 68 miles of its 2,200 mile network to 750 MHz or higher. As of December 31, 2004, the Peoria District achieved penetration levels for its digital service of approximately 30% in areas where digital service is available. The District has launched high-speed Internet service and has achieved penetration levels of over 14% as of December 31, 2004 in areas where the service is available. In September 2003, video-on-demand and HDTV services were made available to customers in the Peoria District.

The Springfield District

As of December 31, 2004, the Springfield District passed approximately 189,500 homes and served approximately 114,500 customers, principally in the communities of Decatur and Springfield. Springfield is the capital of Illinois and the sixth largest city in the state, located in the central part of the state. The major employer in the Springfield area is the State of Illinois.

Approximately 74% of the Springfield District operates with a network which is two-way interactive. As of December 31, 2004, the district achieved penetration levels for its digital service of 32% in the areas where the service is available. The district has launched Insight Broadband high-speed Internet service and has achieved penetration levels of approximately 13% in areas where the service is available. In September 2003, video-on-demand and HDTV services were made available to customers in the Springfield District.

The Champaign District

As of December 31, 2004, the Champaign District passed approximately 100,300 homes and served approximately 50,600 customers. Champaign/Urbana is located in the eastern central part of the state. The Champaign District is home to the University of Illinois with over 45,000 students. Major employers in the Champaign and Urbana areas include the University of Illinois, Kraft Foods and the Carle Clinic Association.

The Champaign District serves substantially all of its customers by a two-way, 750 MHz network. The district had approximately 15,700 digital customers as of December 31, 2004. The Champaign District has launched Insight Broadband high-speed Internet service and as of December 31, 2004 had approximately 16,000 customers.

The South Region

General

As of December 31, 2004, the South Region passed approximately 548,100 homes and served approximately 271,700 customers, principally in the City of Louisville, Kentucky. This region includes approximately 91,019 homes passed and approximately 41,151 customers served by the Scottsburg, Jeffersonville and New Albany, Indiana systems which are operated by the management of the Louisville, Kentucky system. Louisville is the 16^th largest city in the United States and is Kentucky’s largest city. It is located in the northern region of the state, bordering Indiana. Louisville is located within a day’s drive of nearly 50% of the United States population, which makes it an important crossroads for trade and business. Major employers in the Louisville metropolitan area include Humana, UPS, General Electric and Ford. Knology, Inc. obtained a franchise to provide cable television service in the City of Louisville in September 2000, although it had not commenced building a cable system as of December 31, 2004.

11

Table of Contents

The Louisville system serves over 99% of its customers with two-way 750 MHz cable from a single headend. As of December 31, 2004, approximately 106,000 customers in the Louisville system have subscribed to our interactive Insight Digital service. Our phone service is available in over 75% of Louisville.

Customer Rates

Rates charged to customers vary based on the market served and service selected. As of December 31, 2004, the weighted average revenue for our monthly combined basic and classic service was approximately $38.11.

A one-time installation fee, which we may reduce during promotional periods, is charged to new customers, as well as reconnected customers. We charge monthly fees for set top boxes and remote control devices. We also charge administrative fees for delinquent payments for service. Customers are free to discontinue service at any time without additional charge and may be charged a reconnection fee to resume service. Commercial customers, such as hotels, motels and hospitals, are charged negotiated monthly fees and a non-recurring fee for the installation of service. Multiple dwelling unit accounts may be offered a bulk rate in exchange for single-point billing and basic service to all units.

Sales and Marketing

Our strategy is to improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn in addition to selling video, high-speed Internet and telephone services to our customers and potential customers, thereby increasing market share. Customers who purchase more than one service may in some cases be eligible for a bundled discount. We regularly use targeted campaigns to sell the appropriate services to both our existing and our potential customer base. Our customer service representatives are trained and given the support to use their daily contacts with customers as opportunities to sell them additional services.

Due to the nature of the communities we serve, we are able to market our services in ways not typically used by urban cable operators. We can market products and services to our customers at our local offices where many of our customers pay their monthly cable bills in person. Examples of our in-store marketing include the promotion of premium services as well as point-of-purchase demonstrations that will allow customers to experience our high-speed Internet service and digital products. We aggressively promote our services utilizing both broad and targeted marketing tactics, including outdoor billboards, outbound telemarketing, retail partnerships, including Best Buy and H.H. Gregg, direct mail, door-to-door sales, cross-channel promotion, print and broadcast.

We build awareness of the “Insight” brand through advertising campaigns and strong community relations. As a result of our branding efforts and consistent service standards, we believe we have developed a reputation for quality and reliability. We also believe that our marketing strategies are particularly effective due to our regional clustering and market significance, which enables us to reach a greater number of both current and potential customers in an efficient, uniform manner.

Programming Suppliers

Most cable companies purchase their programming product directly from the program networks by entering into a contractual relationship with the program supplier. The vast majority of these program suppliers offer the cable operator license fee rate cards with size-based volume discounts and other financial incentives, such as launch and marketing support and cross-channel advertising.

12

Table of Contents

Currently there are over 160 cable networks competing for carriage on our analog and digital platforms. We have continued to leverage both our systems’ channel capacity and newly deployed digital services including video-on-demand as an incentive to our suppliers to secure long term programming deals with reasonable price structures and other creative financial arrangements to offset license fee increases.

Because of our relationship with Comcast Cable, we have the right to purchase certain programming services for our systems directly through Comcast Cable’s programming supplier Satellite Services, Inc. We believe that Satellite Services has attractive programming costs. Additionally, given the clustering of our systems in the Midwest, we have been successful in affiliating with regionally based programming products such as sports and news, at lower than average license fees.

Under the terms of Insight Midwest’s partnership agreement, we and Comcast Cable are each required to use commercially reasonable efforts to extend to Insight Midwest all of the programming discounts available to us. Accordingly, we should benefit from both the existing Satellite Services arrangement as well as additional discounts available to Comcast Cable. However, we cannot predict with certainty when these benefits will occur, or the extent to which they actually will be achieved.

Commitment to Community Relations

We believe that maintaining strong community relations will continue to be an important factor in ensuring our long-term success. Our community-oriented initiatives include educational programs and the sponsorship of programs and events recognizing local citizens and supporting local charitable organizations. In addition, members of our management team host community events for political and business leaders as well as representatives of the local media, where they discuss our operations, recent enhancements to our service and recent developments in the telecommunications industry. We have received numerous awards recognizing our ongoing community relations, and we believe that such initiatives result in consumer and governmental goodwill and name recognition, increasing customer loyalty and likely facilitating any future efforts to provide new communications services.

We encourage all of our local management teams to take leadership roles in community and civic activities. Over the years, our systems have received various forms of recognition for their support of local causes and charities as well as their sponsorship of programs that improve the quality of life in the communities they serve.

All of our systems provide ongoing support for Cable in the Classroom, an industry initiative that earns recognition both locally and nationally for its efforts in furthering the education of students. We further underscore our commitment to education by offering high-speed Internet access to each accredited school in our service area, building upon the cable industry’s pledge to provide free high-speed Internet access to eligible local schools and public libraries. We offer students and teachers the resources of broadband content and robust cable programming to enrich the learning experience.

With cable modems in the classroom, teachers and students alike can benefit from the speedy downloads and access to advanced applications to enhance the learning experience. In addition to providing this advanced technology free of charge, we intend to continue offering programming enhancements in partnership with various cable networks.

13

Table of Contents

One of the advantages a local cable operator has over nationally distributed competitors is its ability to develop local programming. To further strengthen community relations and differentiate us from direct broadcast satellite television systems and other multichannel video providers, we provide locally produced and oriented programming. Several of our systems have full production capabilities, with in-house and/or mobile production studios to create local content. We offer a broad range of local programming alternatives, including community information, local government proceedings and local specialty interest shows. In some of our markets, we are the exclusive broadcaster of local college and high school sporting events, which we believe provides unique programming and builds customer loyalty. We believe that our emphasis on local programming creates significant opportunities for increased advertising revenues. Locally originated programming will also play an integral role in the deployment of our new and enhanced products and services.

Franchises

Cable television systems are constructed and operated under fixed-term non-exclusive franchises or other types of operating authorities that are granted by either local governmental or centralized state authorities. These franchises typically contain many conditions, such as:

As of December 31, 2004, we held 547 franchises in the aggregate, consisting of 201 in Indiana, 192 in Kentucky, 125 in Illinois and 29 in Ohio. Many of these franchises require the payment of fees to the issuing authorities of 3% to 5% of gross revenues, as defined by each franchise agreement, from the related cable system.

The Communications Act of 1934 prohibits franchising authorities from imposing annual franchise fees in excess of 5% of gross annual revenues from the provision of cable services and also permits the cable television system operator to seek renegotiation and modification of franchise requirements if warranted by changed circumstances that render performance commercially impracticable.

The following table summarizes information relating to the year of expiration of our franchises, as of December 31, 2004:

14

Table of Contents

The Communications Act provides, among other things, for an orderly franchise renewal process which limits a franchising authority’s ability to deny a franchise renewal if the incumbent operator follows prescribed renewal procedures. In addition, the Communications Act include comprehensive renewal procedures which require, when properly elected by an operator, that an incumbent franchisee’s renewal application be assessed on its own merits and not as part of a comparative process with competing applications.

We believe that our cable systems generally have good relationships with their respective franchise authorities. We have never had a franchise revoked or failed to have a franchise renewed.

Competition

Cable systems face increasing competition from alternative methods of receiving and distributing their core video business. Both wireline and wireless competitors have made inroads in competing against incumbent cable operators. The extent to which a cable operator is competitive depends, in part, upon its ability to provide to customers, at a reasonable price, a greater variety of programming and other communications services than are available off-air or through alternative delivery sources and upon superior technical performance and customer service.

Congress has enacted legislation and the FCC has adopted regulatory policies providing a more favorable operating environment for new and existing technologies, in particular direct broadcast satellite television systems operators, that have the potential to provide increased competition to cable systems. Congress has also enacted legislation which permits direct broadcast satellite companies to retransmit local television signals, eliminating one of the objections of consumers about switching to satellites.

The 1996 Telecom Act contains provisions designed to encourage local exchange telephone companies and others to provide a wide variety of video services competitive with services provided by cable systems. Local exchange telephone companies in various states have either announced plans, obtained local franchise authorizations or are currently competing with our cable communications systems. Certain telephone companies have begun to deploy fiber more extensively in their networks and some have announced plans to deploy broadband services, including video programming services, using a switched Internet protocol platform or other technologies designed to avoid the same regulatory burdens imposed on our business. New laws or regulations at the federal or state level may clarify the ability of local telephone companies to provide their services without obtaining state or local cable franchises. If local telephone companies are not required to obtain local cable franchises comparable to ours, it would be adverse to our business. Local exchange telephone companies and other companies also provide facilities for the transmission and distribution to homes and businesses of interactive computer-based services, including the Internet, as well as data and other non-video services. The ability of local exchange telephone companies to cross-subsidize video, data and telecommunication services also poses some threat to cable operators.

Franchised cable systems compete with private cable systems for the right to service condominiums, apartment complexes and other multiple unit residential developments. The operators of these private systems, also known as satellite master antenna television systems, often enter into exclusive agreements with apartment building owners or homeowners’ associations that preclude franchised cable television operators from serving residents of such private complexes. However several states, including Illinois and Ohio where we operate, have adopted legislation granting cable operators the right to serve residents of such private complexes under certain conditions.

15

Table of Contents

The 1984 Cable Act gives franchised cable operators the right to use existing compatible easements within their franchise areas on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions. Accordingly, where there are preexisting compatible easements, cable operators may not be unfairly denied access or discriminated against with respect to access to the premises served by those easements. Conflicting judicial decisions have been issued interpreting the scope of the access right granted by the 1984 Cable Act, particularly with respect to private easements granted to a specific utility and not “dedicated” to the public. Moreover, this statutory easement access right does not appear to allow a cable operator to install facilities within a building without permission from the property owner.

The 1996 Telecom Act may exempt some of our competitors from regulation as cable systems. The 1996 Telecom Act amends the definition of a “cable system” such that providers of competitive video programming are only regulated and franchised as “cable systems” if they use public rights-of-way. Thus, a broader class of entities providing video programming, including operators of satellite master antenna television systems, may be exempt from regulation as cable television systems under the 1996 Telecom Act. This exemption may give these entities a competitive advantage over us.

Cable television systems are operated under non-exclusive franchises granted by local authorities thereby allowing more than one cable system to be built in the same area. Although the number of municipal and commercial overbuild cable systems is small, the potential profitability of a cable system is adversely affected if the local customer base is divided among multiple systems. Additionally, constructing a competing cable system is a capital intensive process which involves a high degree of risk. We believe that in order to be successful, a competitor’s overbuild would need to be able to serve the homes in the overbuilt area on a more cost-effective basis than we can. Any such overbuild operation would require either significant access to capital or access to facilities already in place that are capable of delivering cable television programming. As of December 31, 2004, our Evansville, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio systems were overbuilt. As a result, approximately 9% of the total homes passed by our systems were overbuilt as of such date.

Direct broadcast satellite television systems use digital video compression technology to increase the channel capacity of their systems. Direct broadcast satellite television systems’ programming is currently available to individual households, condominiums and apartment and office complexes through conventional, medium and high-power satellites. High-power direct broadcast satellite television system service is currently being provided by DIRECTV, Inc., EchoStar Communications Corporation and Rainbow DBS. Direct broadcast satellite television systems have some advantages over cable systems that were not upgraded, such as greater channel capacity and digital picture quality. The recent acquisition of DIRECTV by News Corp. may provide it with access to financial, programming and other resources that enhance its competitive potential. In addition, legislation has been enacted which permits direct broadcast satellite television systems to retransmit the signals of local television stations in their local markets. However, direct broadcast satellite television systems have a limited ability to offer locally produced programming, and do not have a significant local presence in the community. In addition, direct broadcast satellite television systems packages can be more expensive than cable, especially if the subscriber intends to view the service on more than one television in the household. Finally, direct broadcast satellite television systems do not have the same full two-way capability, which we believe will limit their ability to compete in a meaningful way in interactive television, high-speed Internet and voice communications. Direct broadcast satellite has enjoyed a 23% average penetration nationwide, and we believe that satellite penetration in our various markets generally is in accordance with such average.

16

Table of Contents

Several telephone companies are introducing digital subscriber line technology (“DSL”), which allows Internet access over traditional phone lines at data transmission speeds greater than those available by a standard telephone modem. Although these transmission speeds are not as great as the transmission speed of a cable modem, we believe that the transmission speed of DSL technology is sufficiently high that such technology competes with cable modem technology. The FCC is currently considering its authority to promulgate rules to facilitate the deployment of these services and regulate areas including high-speed Internet and interactive Internet services. We cannot predict the outcome of any FCC proceedings, or the impact of that outcome on the success of our Internet access services or on our operations. In addition to DSL and dialup modems for providing Internet access, other technologies are entering the marketplace. For example, there is a wireless technology popularly known as “Wi-Fi,” which is faster than dial-up, but slower than cable modem technology. In addition, the FCC has recently approved the provision of broadband Internet service to consumers over electronic power lines.

As we expand our offerings to include telephone services, telephone services will be subject to competition from existing providers, including both local exchange telephone companies and long-distance carriers as well as competing providers using alternative technologies such as voice over Internet protocol (“VoIP”). The telecommunications industry is highly competitive and many telephone service providers may have greater financial resources than we have, or have established relationships with regulatory authorities. In addition, new technologies such as VoIP may allow competing telephone providers to offer service in competition with us over an existing broadband connection (e.g., cable modem or DSL), thereby avoiding significant capital expenditures for a local distribution infrastructure. We cannot predict the extent to which the presence of these competitors will influence customer penetration in our telephone service areas. While we may add our telephone service offering to various markets, the service has only been launched in selected markets and has not yet achieved material penetration levels.

Other new technologies may become competitive with services that cable communications systems can offer. Advances in communications technology, as well as changes in the marketplace and the regulatory and legislative environment are constantly occurring. Thus, we cannot predict the effect of ongoing or future developments on the cable communications industry or on our operations.

Legislation and Regulation

The cable television industry is regulated by the FCC, some state governments and the applicable local governments. In addition, various legislative and regulatory proposals under consideration from time to time by Congress and various federal agencies have in the past, and may in the future, materially affect us. The following is a summary of federal laws and regulations materially affecting the growth and operation of the cable television industry and a description of certain state and local laws. We believe that the regulation of the cable television industry remains a matter of interest to Congress, the FCC and other regulatory authorities. There can be no assurance as to what, if any, future actions such legislative and regulatory authorities may take or the effect thereof on us.

Federal Legislation

The principal federal statute governing the cable television industry is the Communications Act. As it affects the cable television industry, the Communications Act has been significantly amended on three occasions, by the 1984 Cable Act, the 1992 Cable Act and the 1996 Telecom Act. The 1996 Telecom Act altered the regulatory structure governing the nation’s telecommunications providers. It reduced barriers to competition in both the cable television market and the local telephone market. Among other things, it also reduced the scope of cable rate regulation.

17

Table of Contents

Federal Regulation

The FCC, the principal federal regulatory agency with jurisdiction over cable television, has adopted regulations covering such areas as cross-ownership between cable television systems and other communications businesses, carriage of television broadcast programming, cable rates, consumer protection and customer service, leased access, obscene and indecent programming, programmer access to cable television systems, programming agreements, technical standards, consumer electronics equipment compatibility and consumer education, ownership of home wiring, availability of programming to competitors, equal employment opportunity, availability of devices to block objectionable programming, origination cablecasting. sponsorship identification, closed captioning, political advertising, advertising limits for children’s programming, signal leakage and frequency use, maintenance of various records as well as antenna structure notification, marking and lighting. The FCC has the authority to enforce these regulations through the imposition of substantial fines, the issuance of cease and desist orders and/or the imposition of other administrative sanctions, such as the revocation of FCC licenses needed to operate certain transmission facilities often used in connection with cable operations. A brief summary of certain of these federal regulations as adopted to date follows.

Rate Regulation

The 1984 Cable Act codified existing FCC preemption of rate regulation for premium channels and optional non-basic program tiers. The 1984 Cable Act also deregulated basic cable rates for cable television systems determined by the FCC to be subject to effective competition. The 1992 Cable Act substantially changed the previous statutory and FCC rate regulation standards. The 1992 Cable Act replaced the FCC’s old standard for determining effective competition, under which most cable television systems were not subject to rate regulation, with a statutory provision that resulted in nearly all cable television systems becoming subject to rate regulation of basic and cable programming service (expanded basic) tiers. The 1992 Cable Act allows cable operators to obtain deregulation of all rates upon demonstrating effective competition based on cable system penetration of less than 30%, aggregate penetration by competing providers in excess of 15%, or competition from a municipally-owned provider available to at least 50% of the community.

For cable systems not subject to effective competition, the 1992 Cable Act required the FCC to adopt a formula for franchising authorities to assure that basic cable rates are reasonable; allowed the FCC to review rates for cable programming service tiers, other than per-channel or per-program services, in response to complaints filed by franchising authorities and/or cable customers; prohibited cable television systems from requiring basic customers to purchase service tiers above basic service in order to purchase premium services if the system is technically capable of compliance; required the FCC to adopt regulations to establish, on the basis of actual costs, the price for installation of cable service, remote controls, converter boxes and additional outlets; and allowed the FCC to impose restrictions on the retiering and rearrangement of cable services under certain limited circumstances. The 1996 Telecom Act limited the class of complainants regarding cable programming service tier rates to franchising authorities only, and ended FCC regulation of cable programming service tier rates on March 31, 1999. The 1996 Telecom Act also relaxed existing uniform rate requirements by specifying that such requirements do not apply where the operator faces effective competition, and by exempting bulk discounts to multiple dwelling units, although complaints about predatory pricing may be lodged with the FCC. In addition, the 1996 Telecom Act expanded the definition of effective competition to cover situations where a local telephone company or its affiliate, or any multichannel video provider using telephone company facilities, offers comparable video service by any means except direct broadcast satellite television systems.

The FCC’s implementing regulations contain standards for the regulation of basic service rates. Local franchising authorities are empowered to order a reduction of existing rates which exceed the

18

Table of Contents

maximum permitted level for basic services and associated equipment, and refunds can be required. The FCC adopted a benchmark price cap system for measuring the reasonableness of existing basic service rates. The rules also require that charges for cable-related equipment, converter boxes and remote control devices, for example, and installation services be unbundled from the provision of cable service and based upon actual costs plus a reasonable profit. The regulations also provide that future rate increases may not exceed an inflation-indexed amount, plus increases in certain costs beyond the cable operator’s control, such as taxes, franchise fees and increased programming costs. Cost-based adjustments to these capped rates can also be made in the event a cable television operator adds or deletes channels. Alternatively, cable operators have the opportunity to make cost-of-service showings which, in some cases, may justify rates above the applicable benchmarks. There is also a streamlined cost-of-service methodology available to justify a rate increase on the basic tier for “significant” system upgrades.

Carriage of Broadcast Television Signals

The 1992 Cable Act contains signal carriage requirements which allow commercial television broadcast stations that are “local” to a cable television system, that is to say that the system is located in the station’s Nielsen “designated market area,” to elect every three years whether to require the cable television system to carry the station, subject to certain exceptions, or whether the cable television system will have to negotiate for “retransmission consent” to carry the station. The last election between must-carry and retransmission consent was October 1, 2002. A cable television system is generally required to devote up to one-third of its activated channel capacity for the carriage of local commercial television stations whether pursuant to mandatory carriage requirements or the retransmission consent requirements of the 1992 Cable Act. Local non-commercial television stations are also given mandatory carriage rights, subject to certain exceptions, within the larger of: (i) a 50 mile radius from the station’ city of license; or (ii) the station’ Grade B contour, a measure of signal strength. Unlike commercial stations, noncommercial stations are not given the option to negotiate retransmission consent for the carriage of their signal. In addition, cable television systems have to obtain retransmission consent for the carriage of all “distant” commercial broadcast stations, except for certain “superstations,” which are commercial satellite-delivered independent stations such as WGN. To date, compliance with the “retransmission consent” and “must carry” provisions of the 1992 Cable Act has not had a material effect on us, although this result may change in the future depending on such factors as market conditions, channel capacity and similar matters when such arrangements are renegotiated. The FCC has issued a decision in a rulemaking proceeding dealing with the carriage of television signals in a digital format, both high definition and standard digital. The rules require carriage of local television broadcast stations that transmit solely in a digital format. In addition, the FCC recently reaffirmed that a station transmitting in both analog and digital formats during the current several-year transition period is entitled to carriage of only its analog signal and that the mandatory carriage obligation extends only to the primary video signal, and not to multiple services transmitted by a station over its digital channel.

Deletion of Certain Programming

Cable television systems that have 1,000 or more customers must, upon the appropriate request of a local television station, delete the simultaneous or nonsimultaneous network programming of distant stations when such programming has also been contracted for by the local station on an exclusive basis. FCC regulations also enable television stations that have obtained exclusive distribution rights for syndicated programming in their market to require a cable television system to delete or “black out” such programming from other television stations which are carried by the cable television system. In addition, the rights holder to a local sports event can prohibit a cable operator from carrying that event on a distant station if the event is not broadcast live by a local station.

19

Table of Contents

Franchise Fees

Although franchising authorities may impose franchise fees under the 1984 Cable Act, such payments cannot exceed 5% of a cable television system’s annual gross revenues from the provision of cable services. Under the 1996 Telecom Act, franchising authorities may not exact franchise fees from revenues derived from telecommunications services, although they may be able to exact some additional compensation for the use of public rights-of-way. The FCC has ruled that franchise fees may not be imposed on revenue from cable modem service. Franchising authorities are also empowered, in awarding new franchises or renewing existing franchises, to require cable television operators to provide cable-related facilities and equipment and to enforce compliance with voluntary commitments. In the case of franchises in effect prior to the effective date of the 1984 Cable Act, franchising authorities may enforce requirements contained in the franchise relating to facilities, equipment and services, whether or not cable-related. The 1984 Cable Act, under certain limited circumstances, permits a cable operator to obtain modifications of franchise obligations.

Renewal of Franchises

The 1984 Cable Act and the 1992 Cable Act establish renewal procedures and criteria designed to protect incumbent franchisees against arbitrary denials of renewal and to provide specific grounds for franchising authorities to consider in making renewal decisions, including a franchisee’s performance under the franchise and community needs. Even after the formal renewal procedures are invoked, franchising authorities and cable television operators remain free to negotiate a renewal outside the formal process. Nevertheless, renewal is by no means assured, as the franchisee must meet certain statutory standards. Even if a franchise is renewed, a franchising authority may impose new and more onerous requirements such as upgrading facilities and equipment, although the municipality must take into account the cost of meeting such requirements. Similarly, if a franchising authority’s consent is required for the purchase or sale of a cable television system or franchises, such authority may attempt to impose burdensome or onerous franchise requirements in connection with a request for such consent. Historically, franchises have been renewed for cable television operators that have provided satisfactory services and have complied with the terms of their franchises. At this time, we are not aware of any current or past material failure on our part to comply with our franchise agreements. We believe that we have generally complied with the terms of our franchises and have provided quality levels of service.

The 1992 Cable Act makes several changes to the process under which a cable television operator seeks to enforce its renewal rights which could make it easier in some cases for a franchising authority to deny renewal. Franchising authorities may consider the “level” of programming service provided by a cable television operator in deciding whether to renew. For alleged franchise violations occurring after December 29, 1984, franchising authorities are no longer precluded from denying renewal based on failure to substantially comply with the material terms of the franchise where the franchising authority has “effectively acquiesced” to such past violations. Rather, the franchising authority is estopped if, after giving the cable television operator notice and opportunity to cure, it fails to respond to a written notice from the cable television operator of its failure or inability to cure. Courts may not reverse a denial of renewal based on procedural violations found to be “harmless error.”

Channel Set-Asides

The 1984 Cable Act permits local franchising authorities to require cable television operators to set aside certain television channels for public, educational and governmental access programming. The 1984 Cable Act further requires cable television systems with thirty-six or more activated channels to designate a portion of their channel capacity for commercial leased access by unaffiliated third parties to

20

Table of Contents

provide programming that may compete with services offered by the cable television operator. The 1992 Cable Act requires leased access rates to be set according to a formula determined by the FCC.

Ownership

The 1996 Telecom Act repealed the statutory ban against local exchange carriers providing video programming directly to customers within their local exchange telephone service areas. Consequently, the 1996 Telecom Act permits telephone companies to compete directly with operations of cable television systems. Under the 1996 Telecom Act and FCC rules adopted to implement the 1996 Telecom Act, local exchange carriers may provide video service as broadcasters, common carriers, or cable operators. In addition, local exchange carriers and others may also provide video service through “open video systems,” a regulatory regime that may give them more flexibility than traditional cable television systems. Open video system operators (including local exchange carriers) can, however, be required to obtain a local cable franchise, and they can be required to make payments to local governmental bodies in lieu of cable franchise fees. In general, open video system operators must make their systems available to programming providers (other than the incumbent cable operator) on rates, terms and conditions that are reasonable and nondiscriminatory. Where carriage demand by programming providers exceeds the channel capacity of an open video system, two-thirds of the channels must be made available to programmers unaffiliated with the open video system operator.

The 1996 Telecom Act generally prohibits local exchange carriers from purchasing a greater than 10% ownership interest in a cable television system located within the local exchange carrier’s telephone service area, prohibits cable operators from purchasing local exchange carriers whose service areas are located within the cable operator’s franchise area, and prohibits joint ventures between operators of cable television systems and local exchange carriers operating in overlapping markets. There are some statutory exceptions, including a rural exemption that permits buyouts in which the purchased cable television system or local exchange carrier serves a non-urban area with fewer than 35,000 inhabitants, and exemptions for the purchase of small cable television systems located in non-urban areas. Also, the FCC may grant waivers of the buyout provisions in certain circumstances.

The 1996 Telecom Act made several other changes to relax ownership restrictions and regulations of cable television systems. The 1996 Telecom Act repealed the 1992 Cable Act’s three-year holding requirement pertaining to sales of cable television systems. The statutory broadcast/cable cross-ownership restrictions imposed under the 1984 Cable Act were eliminated in 1996, although the parallel FCC regulations prohibiting broadcast/cable common-ownership remained in effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit struck down these rules. The FCC’s rules also generally prohibit cable operators from offering satellite master antenna service separate from their franchised systems in the same franchise area, unless the cable operator is subject to “effective competition” there.

The 1996 Telecom Act amended the definition of a “cable system” under the Communications Act so that competitive providers of video services will be regulated and franchised as “cable systems” only if they use public rights-of-way. Thus, a broader class of entities providing video programming may be exempt from regulation as cable television systems under the Communications Act.

The 1996 Telecom Act provides that registered utility holding companies and subsidiaries may provide telecommunications services, including cable television, notwithstanding the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935, as amended. Electric utilities must establish separate subsidiaries known as “exempt telecommunications companies” and must apply to the FCC for operating authority. Due to their resources, electric utilities could be formidable competitors to traditional cable television systems.

21

Table of Contents

Access to Programming

The 1992 Cable Act imposed restrictions on the dealings between cable operators and cable programmers. Of special significance from a competitive business posture, the 1992 Cable Act precludes video programmers affiliated with cable companies from favoring their affiliated cable operators and requires such programmers to sell their programming to other multichannel video distributors. This provision limits the ability of vertically integrated cable programmers to offer exclusive programming arrangements to cable companies. The prohibition on certain types of exclusive programming arrangements was set to expire on October 5, 2002, but the FCC has determined that a five-year extension of the prohibition is necessary to preserve and protect competition in video programming distribution.

Privacy

The 1984 Cable Act imposes a number of restrictions on the manner in which cable television operators can collect and disclose data about individual system customers. The statute also requires that the system operator periodically provide all customers with written information about its policies regarding the collection and handling of data about customers, their privacy rights under federal law and their enforcement rights. In the event that a cable television operator was found to have violated the customer privacy provisions of the 1984 Cable Act, it could be required to pay damages, attorneys’ fees and other costs. Under the 1992 Cable Act, the privacy requirements were strengthened to require that cable television operators take such actions as are necessary to prevent unauthorized access to personally identifiable information. Certain of these requirements were modified by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2001.

Franchise Transfers

The 1992 Cable Act requires franchising authorities to act on any franchise transfer request submitted after December 4, 1992 within 120 days after receipt of all information required by FCC regulations and by the franchising authority. Approval is deemed to be granted if the franchising authority fails to act within such period.

Technical Requirements

The FCC has imposed technical standards applicable to all classes of channels which carry downstream National Television System Committee video programming. The FCC also has adopted additional standards applicable to cable television systems using frequencies in the 108 to 137 MHz and 225 to 400 MHz bands in order to prevent harmful interference with aeronautical navigation and safety radio services and has also established limits on cable television system signal leakage. Periodic testing by cable television operators for compliance with the technical standards and signal leakage limits is required and an annual filing of the results of these measurements is required. The 1992 Cable Act requires the FCC to periodically update its technical standards to take into account changes in technology. Under the 1996 Telecom Act, local franchising authorities may not prohibit, condition or restrict a cable television system’s use of any type of customer equipment or transmission technology.

The FCC has adopted regulations to implement the requirements of the 1992 Cable Act designed to improve the compatibility of cable television systems and consumer electronics equipment. These regulations, among other things, generally prohibit cable television operators from scrambling their basic service tier. The 1996 Telecom Act directs the FCC to set only minimal standards to assure compatibility between television sets, VCRs and cable television systems, and otherwise to rely on the marketplace. Pursuant to the 1992 Cable Act, the FCC has adopted rules to assure the competitive

22

Table of Contents

availability to consumers of customer premises equipment, such as converters, used to access the services offered by cable television systems and other multichannel video programming distributors. Pursuant to those rules, consumers are given the right to attach compatible equipment to the facilities of their multichannel video programming distributors so long as the equipment does not harm the network, does not interfere with the services purchased by other customers and is not used to receive unauthorized services. As of July 1, 2000, multichannel video programming distributors, other than operators of direct broadcast satellite television systems, were required to separate security from non-security functions in the customer premises equipment which they sell or lease to their customers and offer their customers the option of using component security modules obtained from the multichannel video programming distributors with set-top units purchased or leased from retail outlets. As of July 1, 2006, multichannel video programming distributors will be prohibited from distributing new set-top equipment integrating both security and non-security functions to their customers.

Inside Wiring; Customer Access

FCC rules require an incumbent cable operator upon expiration of a multiple dwelling unit service contract to sell, abandon, or remove “home run” wiring that was installed by the cable operator in a multiple dwelling unit building. These inside wiring rules assist building owners in their attempts to replace existing cable operators with new programming providers who are willing to pay the building owner a higher fee, where such a fee is permissible. The FCC has also issued an order preempting state, local and private restrictions on over-the-air reception antennas placed on rental properties in areas where a tenant has exclusive use of the property, such as balconies or patios. However, tenants may not install such antennas on the common areas of multiple dwelling units, such as on roofs. This order limits the extent to which multiple dwelling unit owners may enforce certain aspects of multiple dwelling unit agreements which otherwise would prohibit, for example, placement of direct broadcast satellite television systems television receiving antennae in multiple dwelling unit areas, such as apartment balconies or patios, under the exclusive occupancy of a renter.

Pole Attachments

The FCC currently regulates the rates and conditions imposed by certain public utilities for use of their poles unless state public service commissions are able to demonstrate that they adequately regulate the rates, terms and conditions of cable television pole attachments. A number of states and the District of Columbia have certified to the FCC that they adequately regulate the rates, terms and conditions for pole attachments. Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky, states in which we operate, have made such a certification. In the absence of state regulation, the FCC administers such pole attachment and conduit use rates through use of a formula which it has devised. Pursuant to the 1996 Telecom Act, the FCC has adopted a new rate formula for any attaching party, including cable television systems, which offers telecommunications services. This new formula will result in higher attachment rates that will apply only to cable television systems which elect to offer telecommunications services. Any increases pursuant to this new formula began in 2001, and will be phased in by equal increments over the five ensuing years. The FCC ruled that the provision of Internet services will not, in and of itself, trigger use of the new formula. The Supreme Court affirmed this decision and also held that the FCC ‘s authority to regulate rates for attachments to utility poles extended to attachments by cable operators and telecommunications carriers that are used to provide Internet service or for wireless telecommunications service. This development benefits our business and will place a constraint on the prices that utilities can charge with regard to the cable facilities over which we also provide Internet access service.

23

Table of Contents

Interactive Television

The FCC has issued a Notice of Inquiry covering a wide range of issues relating to Interactive Television (“ITV”). Examples of ITV services are interactive electronic program guides and access to a graphic interface that provides supplementary information related to the video display. In the near term, cable systems are likely to be the platform of choice for the distribution of ITV services. The FCC has posed a series of questions including the definition of ITV, the potential for discrimination by cable systems in favor of affiliated ITV providers, enforcement mechanisms, and the proper regulatory classification of ITV service.

Copyright

Cable television systems are subject to federal copyright licensing covering carriage of broadcast signals. In exchange for making semi-annual payments to a federal copyright royalty pool and meeting certain other obligations, cable television operators obtain a statutory license to retransmit broadcast signals. The amount of this royalty payment varies, depending on the amount of system revenues from certain sources, the number of distant signals carried, and the location of the cable television system with respect to over-the-air television stations. Any future adjustment to the copyright royalty rates will be done through an arbitration process to be supervised by the U.S. Copyright Office. Cable television operators are liable for interest on underpaid and unpaid royalty fees, but are not entitled to collect interest on refunds received for overpayment of copyright fees.

Various bills have been introduced into Congress over the past several years that would eliminate or modify the cable television compulsory license. Without the compulsory license, cable television operators would have to negotiate rights from the copyright owners for all of the programming on the broadcast stations carried by cable television systems. Such negotiated agreements would likely increase the cost to cable television operators of carrying broadcast signals. The 1992 Cable Act’s retransmission consent provisions expressly provide that retransmission consent agreements between television broadcast stations and cable television operators do not obviate the need for cable operators to obtain a copyright license for the programming carried on each broadcaster’s signal.

Copyrighted music performed in programming supplied to cable television systems by pay cable networks, such as HBO, and basic cable networks, such as USA Network, is licensed by the networks through private agreements with performing rights organizations such as the American Society of Composers and Publishers, generally known as ASCAP, BMI, Inc. and SESAC, Inc. ASCAP and BMI offer “through to the viewer” licenses to the cable networks which cover the retransmission of the cable networks’ programming by cable television systems to their customers.

Licenses to perform copyrighted music by cable television systems themselves, including on local origination channels, in advertisements inserted locally on cable television networks, and in cross-promotional announcements, must be obtained by the cable television operator from the appropriate performing rights organization.

State and Local Regulation

Cable television systems generally are operated pursuant to nonexclusive franchises, permits or licenses granted by a municipality or other state or local government entity. The terms and conditions of franchises vary materially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and even from city to city within the same state, historically ranging from reasonable to highly restrictive or burdensome. Franchises generally contain provisions governing fees to be paid to the franchising authority, length of the franchise term, renewal, sale or transfer of the franchise, territory of the franchise, design and technical performance of the system, use and occupancy of public streets and number and types of cable television services provided. The terms and

24

Table of Contents

conditions of each franchise and the laws and regulations under which it was granted directly affect the profitability of the cable television system. The 1984 Cable Act places certain limitations on a franchising authority’s ability to control the operation of a cable television system. The 1992 Cable Act prohibits exclusive franchises, and allows franchising authorities to exercise greater control over the operation of franchised cable television systems, especially in the area of customer service and rate regulation. The 1992 Cable Act also allows franchising authorities to operate their own multichannel video distribution system without having to obtain a franchise and permits states or local franchising authorities to adopt certain restrictions on the ownership of cable television systems. Moreover, franchising authorities are immunized from monetary damage awards arising from regulation of cable television systems or decisions made on franchise grants, renewals, transfers and amendments. The 1996 Telecom Act restricts a franchising authority from either requiring or limiting a cable television operator’s provision of telecommunications services.

Various proposals have been introduced at the state and local levels with regard to the regulation of cable television systems, and a number of states have adopted legislation subjecting cable television systems to the jurisdiction of centralized state governmental agencies, some of which impose regulation of a character similar to that of a public utility. To date, none of the states in which we currently operate has enacted state level regulation.

The foregoing summarizes certain material present and proposed federal, state and local regulations and legislation relating to the cable television industry. Other existing federal regulations, copyright licensing and, in many jurisdictions, state and local franchise requirements, currently are the subject of a variety of judicial proceedings, legislative hearings and administrative and legislative proposals which could change, in varying degrees, the manner in which cable television systems operate. Neither the outcome of these proceedings nor their impact upon the cable television industry or us can be predicted at this time.

Internet Access Service

We offer a service which enables consumers to access the Internet at high speeds via high capacity broadband transmission facilities and cable modems. We compete with many other providers of Internet access services which are known as Internet service providers (“ISPs”). ISPs include such companies as America Online, MSN and Earthlink as well as major telecommunications providers, including AT&T and local exchange telephone companies. A number of local franchising authorities have attempted to require cable companies offering Internet access service over their broadband facilities to allow access to those facilities on an unbundled basis to other ISPs. To date, all such efforts have been overturned in the courts. However, many ISPs and local franchising authorities have continued to ask the U.S. Congress and the FCC to mandate such access, or at least to allow local authorities to impose such a requirement. Although the FCC has thus far declined to impose such an access requirement on cable companies, the issue remains under consideration. The FCC has recently decided that cable Internet service should be classified for regulatory purposes as an “information service” rather than either a “cable service” or a “telecommunications service.” Concurrently, the FCC has initiated a wide-ranging rulemaking proceeding in which it seeks comment on the regulatory ramifications of this classification. Among the issues to be decided are whether the FCC should permit local authorities to impose an access requirement, whether local authorities should be prohibited from imposing fees on cable Internet service revenues, and what regulatory role local authorities should be permitted to play. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that cable Internet service includes both “information service” and “telecommunications service” components. The outcome of these FCC and judicial proceedings could have a material impact on our provision of cable Internet service.

25

Table of Contents

There are currently few laws or regulations which specifically regulate communications or commerce over the Internet. Section 230 of the Communications Act, added to that act by the 1996 Telecom Act, declares it to be the policy of the United States to promote the continued development of the Internet and other interactive computer services and interactive media, and to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by federal or state regulation. One area in which Congress did attempt to regulate content over the Internet involved the dissemination of obscene or indecent materials. The provisions of the 1996 Telecom Act, generally referred to as the Communications Decency Act, were found to be unconstitutional, in part, by the United States Supreme Court in 1997. In response, Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act. The constitutionality of this act is currently being challenged in the courts. In May 2002, the United States Supreme Court reversed the finding by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that the use of “contemporary community standards” to identify material “harmful to minors “ was overly broad and therefore violative of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court, however, remanded the matter to the Third Circuit to determine the validity of other challenges to the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act and kept the stay prohibiting government enforcement in place until further action by the lower courts. Finally, disclosure of customer communications or records is governed by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2001 and the Cable Act, both of which were amended by the USA Patriot Act.

Local Telecommunications Services

The 1996 Telecom Act provides that no state or local laws or regulations may prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting any entity from providing any interstate or intrastate telecommunications service. States are authorized, however, to impose “competitively neutral” requirements regarding universal service, public safety and welfare, service quality and consumer protection. State and local governments also retain their authority to manage the public rights-of-way and may require fair and reasonable, competitively neutral and non-discriminatory compensation for management of the public rights-of-way when cable operators or others provide telecommunications service using public rights-of-way. State and local governments must publicly disclose required compensation from telecommunications providers for use of public rights-of-way.

Local telecommunications services are subject to regulation by state utility commissions. Use of local telecommunications facilities to originate and terminate long distance services, a service commonly referred to as “exchange access,” is subject to regulation both by the FCC and by state utility commissions. As providers of local exchange service, we are subject to the requirements imposed upon competitive local exchange companies by the 1996 Telecom Act. These include requirements governing resale, telephone number portability, dialing parity, access to rights-of-way and reciprocal compensation, among others. Although we cannot predict whether and the extent to which a state may seek to regulate us, increased regulation would likely increase our cost of doing business.

Numerous cable operators are either exploring or have commenced offering voice over Internet protocol (“VoIP”) as a competitive alternative to traditional circuit-switched telephone service. Various states, including states where we operate, have adopted or are considering differing regulatory treatment for VoIP, ranging from minimal or no regulation to full-blown common carrier status. The FCC has announced a proceeding to determine any appropriate regulatory obligations for VoIP. While the outcome of this proceeding cannot be predicted and is expected to address a wide variety of issues, the FCC has issued an initial ruling that finds VoIP to be interstate for judicial purposes, thereby preempting certain state or local regulation.

26

Table of Contents

Employees

As of December 31, 2004, we employed approximately 3,420 full-time employees and 75 part-time employees. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

A cable television system consists of three principal operating components:

We own and lease parcels of real property for signal reception sites which house our antenna towers and headends, microwave complexes and business offices which includes our principal executive offices. In addition, we own our cable systems’ distribution networks, various office fixtures, test equipment and service vehicles. The physical components of our cable systems require maintenance and periodic upgrading to keep pace with technological advances. We believe that our properties, both owned and leased, are in good condition and are suitable and adequate for our business operations as presently conducted and as proposed to be conducted.

In November 2000, we filed a state court action against the City of Louisville for its grant, in September 2000, of a more favorable franchise to Knology of Louisville, Inc. Upon commencement of this action, the City pursuant to a provision in its franchise agreement with Knology, automatically suspended Knology’s franchise pending a final, non-appealable court determination as to whether Knology’s franchise was more favorable than the franchise under which we operated. In November 2000, Knology filed a federal court action against us seeking monetary damages and other relief for alleged violations of federal laws arising out of our having filed, pursuant to the provisions of our own franchise agreement with the City, the state court action. In March 2001, the federal court preliminary set aside the suspension of Knology’s franchise. In March 2002, a state circuit court ruled against our claim that Knology’s franchise was more favorable. We appealed the circuit court’s order to the state court of appeals which, in June 2003, upheld the lower court ruling. We filed a motion for discretionary review of the appeals court’s ruling which was denied by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

In May 2003, the federal court granted us summary judgment and dismissed six of Knology’s 11 claims. The court granted summary judgment to Knology on three claims, two of which resulted in

27

Table of Contents

permanently enjoining enforcement of the automatic suspension provision of Knology’s franchise agreement and did not involve damages. The third such claim was for violation of Knology’s first amendment rights, which was to proceed to trial solely on the issue of damages, and could have resulted in an award of legal fees and court costs specific to such claim if upheld. The remaining undecided claims related to allegations of anticompetitive conduct arising from the state court lawsuit and were to proceed to trial on the merits. In August 2003, the court agreed, in part, with our Motion for Reconsideration, that the stay provision provides no justification for an injunction since the language was severed. Further, the court granted our Motion to Certify Questions for an Immediate Appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted our Motion to Certify, and ruled in our favor overturning the trial court’s rulings in favor of Knology. The Sixth Circuit found that our right to file the state court lawsuit against the City was protected and thus we were immune from liability arising from that lawsuit. Knology filed a motion for an en banc review by the Sixth Circuit which was denied March 2005. The matter will return to the trial court for final rulings consistent with the Sixth Circuit opinion.

We believe there are no other pending or threatened legal proceedings that, if adversely determined, would have a material adverse effect on us.

Not applicable.

28

Table of Contents

PART II

There is no public trading market for our equity, all of which is held equally by our manager, through Insight LP, and Comcast Cable (formerly known as AT&T Broadband), through TCI of Indiana Holdings.

In the following table, we provide you with our selected consolidated historical financial and other data as of and for the five years ended December 31, 2004. When you read this selected consolidated historical financial and other data, it is important that you read along with it the historical financial statements and related notes in our consolidated financial statements included in this report, as well as “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” also included in this report. Certain other prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

29

Table of Contents

30

Table of Contents

31

Table of Contents

Introduction

Our revenues are earned from customer fees for cable television programming services including premium, digital and pay-per-view services and ancillary services, such as rental of converters, remote control devices and installations. In addition, we earn revenues from providing high-speed Internet services, selling advertising, facilitating the delivery of telephone services and commissions for products sold through home shopping networks.

We have generated increases in revenues for each of the past three fiscal years, primarily through a combination of acquisitions, internal customer growth, increases in monthly revenue per customer, growth in advertising revenue and increasing revenue from selling new services including high-speed Internet access, interactive digital video and telephone services.

We recorded net losses for the years ended December 31, 2000 through December 31, 2002. Some of the principal reasons for these net losses include depreciation and amortization associated with our acquisitions and capital expenditures related to the construction and upgrading of our systems, and interest costs on borrowed money. Beginning January 1, 2002, we no longer record amortization expense associated with goodwill and franchise costs; however, we expect to continue to report net losses for the foreseeable future. We cannot predict what impact, if any, continued losses will have on our ability to finance our operations in the future.

We face intense competition for our video programming services, primarily from direct broadcast satellite service, or DBS service providers. In 2004, competitive pressure from the DBS service providers increased when they launched local television channels in markets representing an estimated 37% of our basic customer base. Since they have been permitted to deliver local television broadcast signals beginning in 1999, DirecTV, Inc. and Echostar Communications Corporation, the two largest DBS service providers, have been increasing the number of markets in which they deliver these local television signals. These “local-into-local” launches were typically accompanied by significant marketing and advertising and were a major cause of our loss of basic customers in 2004. As of December 31, 2004, local television coverage in our markets by one or more DBS service provider represented an estimated 95% of our basic customers.

32

Table of Contents

The following table is derived for the periods presented from our consolidated financial statements that are included in this report and sets forth certain statement of operations data for our consolidated operations. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

Use of Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization and Free Cash Flow

We utilize in the following discussion of operating results Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization, among other measures, to evaluate the performance of our businesses. Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization is considered an important indicator of the operational strength of our businesses and is a component of our annual compensation programs. We also use this measure to determine how we will allocate resources and capital. We believe that this measure is also useful to investors as it is one of the bases for comparing our operating performance with other companies in our industry, although our measure may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies. A limitation of Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization, however, is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues in our businesses. Management evaluates the costs of such tangible and intangible assets through other financial measures such as capital expenditures and investment spending. Another limitation of Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization is that it does not reflect income net of interest expense, which is a significant expense of our company because of the substantial debt we have incurred to acquire cable television systems and finance capital expenditures for the upgrade of our cable network. Management evaluates the impact of interest expense through other measures including interest expense itself, Free Cash Flow and debt service covenant ratios under our credit facility.

We utilize in the discussion of liquidity below Free Cash Flow, which is net cash provided by operating activities (as defined by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States) less capital expenditures and distribution of preferred interests. Free Cash Flow is considered to be an important indicator of our liquidity, including our ability to repay indebtedness.

Both Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization and Free Cash Flow should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, our Operating Income, Net Income and various cash flow measures (e.g., Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities), as well as other measures of financial performance and liquidity reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

33

Table of Contents

Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization

The following table reconciles Net Income (Loss) to Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization. In addition, the table provides the components from Net Income (Loss) to Operating Income for purposes of the discussions that follow.

Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow

The following table provides a reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow. In addition, the table provides the components from Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Operating Income for purposes of the discussions that follow.

34

Table of Contents

Results of Operations

Year Ended December 31, 2004 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2003

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2004 totaled $1.0 billion, an increase of 10% over the prior year, due primarily to customer gains in high-speed Internet and digital services, as well as basic rate increases. High-speed Internet service revenue increased 41% over the prior year, primarily due to an increased customer base. We added a net 100,500 high-speed Internet customers during the year to end the year at 330,500 customers. Basic cable service revenue increased 7%, primarily due to basic rate increases partially offset by customer losses. Our loss in basic customers resulted primarily from greater competitive pressures by DBS service providers, particularly in those markets where we experienced their “local-to-local” launches. To reverse this video customer trend, we are increasing our customer retention efforts and our emphasis on bundling, enhancing and differentiating our video products and services with video-on-demand, high definition television and digital video recorders. In addition, digital service revenue increased 18% over the prior year, primarily due to an increased customer base. We added a net 48,400 digital customers during the year to end the year at 451,300 customers.

Revenue by service offering were as follows for the year ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):

35

Table of Contents

Total Customer Relationships were approximately 1,322,700 as of December 31, 2004 compared to 1,327,200 as of December 31, 2003. Total Customer Relationships represent the number of customers who receive one or more of our products (i.e. basic cable, high-speed Internet or telephone) without regard to which product they purchase. Revenue Generating Units (“RGUs”), which represent the sum of basic, digital, high-speed Internet and telephone customers, as of December 31, 2004 increased 7% as compared to December 31, 2003. RGUs by category were as follows (in thousands):

Average monthly revenue per basic customer was $64.85 for the year ended December 31, 2004, compared to $57.86 for the year ended December 31, 2003 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 $14.95 for the year ended December 31, 2004, up from $11.41 for the year ended December 31, 2003.

Programming and other operating costs increased $15.1 million, or 5%. Partially offsetting the increase in programming and other operating costs was the reversal of a $14.7 million accrual for property taxes for the years 1999 through 2004. Excluding the reversal of this accrual, programming and other operating costs increased 9%. Programming costs increased 11%, primarily as a result of increased programming rates for our classic service and an increase in digital customers served. In addition, programming costs increased due to an increase in high-speed Internet costs driven by the net addition of 100,500 high-speed Internet customers. This increase in high-speed Internet costs was partially offset by more favorable per customer charges under a new agreement with our Internet service provider, beginning July 2004. In addition, programming costs increased as a result of an increased volume of modems provided to customers under certain marketing campaigns. Excluding the reversal of the property tax accrual, other operating costs increased 3%, primarily attributable to increases in labor costs, which increased due to a reduction of network rebuild/upgrade activities.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $37.6 million, or 23%, primarily due to increased payroll and related costs reflecting salary increases for existing employees and increases in health insurance costs. In addition, marketing expenses increased to support the continued rollout of high-speed Internet and digital products and to maintain the core video customer base. A decrease in expenses previously allocated to Comcast Cable in connection with the cable systems we previously managed for a Comcast Cable affiliate also contributed to the increase in selling, general and administrative expenses. As this management arrangement was terminated effective July 31, 2004, the year ended December 31, 2004 contains only seven months of expense allocations versus a full year for the year ended December 31, 2003. While cost savings have been realized upon termination of the management arrangement, the impact of some of these savings is reflected in programming and other operating costs. In addition, bad debts and collection costs increased, reflecting an increase in the number of accounts written off combined with a higher balance per average account written off.

Management fees are directly related to revenue as these fees are calculated as approximately 3% of revenues.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $10.2 million, or 4.5%, primarily as a result of additional capital expenditures through December 31, 2004 to extend the plant and continue the rollout of digital, high-speed Internet and telephone services to existing and new service areas.

36

Table of Contents

As a result of the factors discussed above, Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization increased $44.7 million, or 11%.

Interest expense decreased $7.0 million, or 4%. The decrease is related to lower interest rates, which averaged 6.7% for the year ended December 31, 2004, compared to 7.3% for the year ended December 31, 2003. For the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, our outstanding debt averaged $2.6 billion and $2.5 billion.

Year Ended December 31, 2003 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2002

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2003 totaled $899.8 million, an increase of 11% over the prior year, due primarily to customer gains in high-speed Internet and digital services as well as basic rate increases. High-speed Internet service revenue increased 59% over the prior year, primarily due to an increased customer base. We added a net 85,200 high-speed Internet customers during the year to end the year at 230,000 customers. Basic cable service revenue increased 6%, primarily due to basic rate increases. The average basic rate increase in 2003 was 6%. In addition, digital service revenue increased 26% over the prior year, primarily due to an increased customer base. We added a net 68,200 digital customers during the year to end the year at 402,900 customers.

Revenue by service offering were as follows for the year ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):

Total Customer Relationships were approximately 1,327,200 as of December 31, 2003 compared to 1,309,600 as of December 31, 2002. RGUs were approximately 1,981,800 as of December 31, 2003 compared to approximately 1,798,900 as of December 31, 2002, an increase of 10%. High-speed Internet net additions were 85,200 digital net additions were 68,200 telephone net additions were 24,800 and net basic customer additions were 4,700.

Average monthly revenue per basic customer, including management fee revenue and Insight Interactive revenue, was $57.86 for the year ended December 31, 2003, compared to $52.18 for the year ended December 31, 2002 primarily reflecting the continued successful rollout of new product offerings in

37

Table of Contents

all markets. Average monthly revenue per basic customer for high-speed Internet and digital service increased to $11.41 for the year ended December 31, 2003, up from $8.07 for the year ended December 31, 2002.

Programming and other operating costs increased $49.7 million or 18%. Programming costs increased 10%, primarily attributable to increased programming rates for our classic service, an increase in digital customers served, and additional programming in the newly rebuilt systems. These increases were offset by a $3.1 million credit from the settlement of a programming contract. Excluding the settlement of the programming contract, programming costs increased 11%. Other operating costs increased 40%, primarily attributable to increases in high-speed Internet costs driven by the net addition of 85,200 high-speed Internet customers, and, labor costs, which increased due to the transition from upgrade activities to maintenance activities. Additionally, we entered into an interim service arrangement with @Home Corporation that required us to pay $10.0 million to @Home to extend high-speed Internet service through February 28, 2002. As a result of this arrangement we incurred approximately $7.9 million in excess of our original agreed-to cost for such services rendered, of which $4.1 million was incurred in 2002.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $11.4 million or 7% primarily as a result of 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.

Management fees are directly related to revenue as these fees are calculated as approximately 3% of revenue.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $13.0 million or 6% primarily as a result of additional capital expenditures through December 31, 2003 to complete the rebuild of our Illinois systems, extend our plant and continue the rollout of digital, high-speed Internet and telephone services to existing and new service areas. Excluding the write-down of our obsolete video on demand equipment during the year ended December 31, 2002, depreciation and amortization increased $24.2 million or 12%.

As a result of the factors listed above, Operating Income before Depreciation and Amortization increased $31.1 million or 9%.

Interest expense remained relatively flat year over year. The increase of $4.0 million or 2% 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 $2.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2003, versus $2.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2002. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in interest expense due to lower interest rates, which averaged 7.3% for the year ended December 31, 2003, versus 7.6% for the year ended December 31, 2002.

38

Table of Contents

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our business requires cash for operations, debt service, capital expenditures and acquisitions. The cable television business has substantial on-going capital requirements for the construction, expansion and maintenance of its broadband networks and provision of new services. In the past, expenditures have been made for various purposes including the upgrade of our existing cable network, and in the future will be made for network extensions, new services, converters and, to a lesser extent, network upgrades. Historically, we have been able to meet our cash requirements with cash flow from operations, borrowings under our credit facilities and issuances of private and public debt and equity.

Cash provided by operations for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 was $281.0 million and $211.5 million. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in operating income and the timing of cash receipts and payments related to our working capital accounts.

Cash used in investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 was $162.9 million and $220.9 million. The decrease was primarily attributable to three factors:

Cash (used in) provided by financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 was $(68.3) million and $22.1 million. During the year ended December 31, 2004, we:

For the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, we spent $164.7 million and $193.5 million in capital expenditures. These expenditures principally constituted network extensions, upgrades to our headends, purchases of customer premise equipment and capitalized labor, all of which is considered necessary in order to maintain our existing network, to grow our customer base and expand our service offerings. For the year ending December 31, 2005, it is anticipated that we will spend approximately $220.0 million on capital expenditures.

Free Cash Flow for the year ended December 31, 2004 totaled $116.3 million compared to $6.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2003. The increase was primarily driven by the following:

39

Table of Contents

While we expect to continue to use Free Cash Flow to repay our indebtedness, interest rates have begun to increase, which could result in higher interest costs.

We have concluded a number of financing transactions, which fully support our operating plan. These transactions are detailed as follows:

On October 1, 1999, in connection with the formation of Insight Midwest and the acquisition of a 50% interest in the Kentucky systems, Insight Midwest completed an offering of $200.0 million principal amount of its 9 ¾% senior notes due 2009. The net proceeds of the offering were used to repay certain outstanding debt of the Kentucky systems. On November 6, 2000, Insight Midwest completed an offering of $500.0 million principal amount of its 10 ½% senior notes due 2010. The net proceeds of the offering of $486.0 million were used to repay a portion of the then existing Indiana and Kentucky credit facilities. Interest on the Insight Midwest 9 ¾% senior notes is payable on April 1 and October 1 of each year and interest on the Insight Midwest 10 ½% senior notes is payable on May 1 and November 1 of each year. The indentures relating to these senior notes impose certain limitations on the ability of Insight Midwest to, among other things, incur debt, make distributions, make investments and sell assets.

On December 17, 2002 Insight Midwest completed a $185.0 million add-on offering under the 9¾% senior notes indenture. Insight Midwest received proceeds of $176.9 million, including $3.8 million of interest accruing from October 1, 2002 through the date of issuance that was repaid to holders of the bonds in the first semi-annual interest payment due on April 1, 2003, and net of an underwriting fee of $3.1 million and a bond discount of $8.8 million that is being amortized through October 2009. The proceeds of this offering were used to repay a portion of the outstanding revolving loans under the Midwest Holdings credit facility. Since this add-on offering occurred under the 9¾% senior notes indenture, these additional debt securities and the previous 9¾% senior notes are considered a single series of senior notes with identical terms.

On December 9, 2003, Insight Midwest completed a $130.0 million add-on offering under the 10½% senior notes indenture. Insight Midwest received proceeds of $140.9 million, including $1.4 million of interest accruing from November 1, 2003 through the date of issuance that will be repaid to holders of the bonds in the first semi-annual interest payment due on May 1, 2004 and a bond premium of $11.4 million that is being amortized through November 2010, and net of an underwriting fee of $2.0 million. The proceeds of this offering were used to repay a portion of the outstanding revolving loans under the Midwest Holdings credit facility. Since this additional add-on offering occurred under the 10½% senior notes indenture, these additional debt securities and the previous 10½% senior notes are considered a single series of senior notes with identical terms.

On January 5, 2001, in conjunction with a series of transactions with cable subsidiaries of AT&T Broadband (now known as Comcast Cable), Insight Midwest Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Insight Midwest which serves as a holding company for all of Insight Midwest’s systems, entered into a $1.75 billion credit facility. Insight Midwest Holdings borrowed $663.0 million to repay the then existing Indiana and Kentucky credit facilities and $685.0 million to finance the AT&T Broadband transactions.

The Insight Midwest Holdings credit facility permits the distribution of cash from Midwest Holdings’ subsidiaries to enable Insight Midwest to pay interest on its 9¾% senior notes and 10½% senior notes, so long as there exists no default under the credit facility. The Insight Midwest Holdings credit facility contains covenants restricting, among other things, the ability of Midwest Holdings and its

40

Table of Contents

subsidiaries to acquire or dispose of assets, make investments and engage in transactions with related parties. The facility also requires compliance with certain financial ratios and contains customary events of default. As of December 31, 2004, we were in compliance with the credit facility’s covenant requirements. Given current operating conditions and projected results of operations, we anticipate continued compliance under this credit facility for the foreseeable future.

On March 28, 2002 we borrowed $100.0 million from our manager. Insight Midwest Holdings is permitted to make distributions to us for the purpose of repaying this loan provided that there are no defaults existing under the credit facility. This loan bears annual interest of 9%, compounded semi-annually, has a scheduled maturity date of January 31, 2011 and permits prepayments.

We have a substantial amount of debt. Our high level of debt could have important consequences for you. Our investments in our operating subsidiaries, including Insight Midwest, constitute substantially all of our operating assets. Consequently, our subsidiaries conduct all of our consolidated operations and own substantially all of our operating assets. Our principal source of cash we need to pay our obligations and to repay the principal amount of our debt obligations is the cash that our subsidiaries generate from their operations and their borrowings. Our subsidiaries are not obligated to make funds available to us and are restricted by the terms of their indebtedness from doing so. Our ability to access the cash flow of our subsidiaries may be contingent upon our ability to refinance the debt of our subsidiaries.

We believe that the Insight Midwest Holdings credit facility, cash on-hand and our cash flow from operations are sufficient to support our current operating plan. We have the ability to draw upon $374.0 million of unused availability under the Insight Midwest Holdings Credit Facility as of December 31, 2004 to fund any shortfall resulting from the inability of Insight Midwest’s cash from operations to fund its capital expenditures, meet its debt service requirements or otherwise fund its operations.

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations and commitments, excluding interest and commitments for programming, as of December 31, 2004, including periods in which the related payments are due (in thousands):

41

Table of Contents

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2003, the FASB issued SFAS No. 150, “Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity.” This Statement establishes standards for how an issuer classifies and measures certain financial instruments with characteristics of both liabilities and equity. SFAS No. 150 requires that an issuer classify a financial instrument that is within its scope as a liability or, in some circumstances, as an asset, with many such financial instruments having been previously classified as equity. SFAS No. 150 is effective for financial instruments entered into or modified after May 31, 2003, and otherwise is effective July 1, 2003. SFAS No. 150 is to be implemented by reporting the cumulative effect of a change in an accounting principle for financial instruments outstanding before the issuance date of the Statement and still existing at July 1, 2003. Restatement is not permitted.

As of July 1, 2003, we had $195.2 million of preferred interests recorded in our balance sheets as temporary equity. These preferred interests were fully accreted to their maturity value of $195.9 million as of August 15, 2003 and were subsequently converted to common interests in connection with our refinancing of the obligations of Insight Ohio. In connection with the adoption of SFAS No. 150, for the three months ended September 30, 2003, we recorded a $5.0 million accrual of preferred interests, which has been included in interest expense in our consolidated statements of operations.

In September 2004, the EITF reached a consensus regarding Issue No. 04-1, Accounting for Preexisting Relationships Between the Parties to a Business Combination. EITF Issue No. 04-1 requires an acquirer in a business combination to evaluate any preexisting relationship with the acquiree to determine if the business combination in effect contains a settlement of the preexisting relationship. A business combination between parties with a preexisting relationship should be viewed as a multiple element transaction. EITF 04-1 is effective for business combinations after October 13, 2004, but requires goodwill resulting from prior business combinations involving parties with a preexisting relationship to be tested for impairment by applying the guidance in the consensus. The Company adopted the provisions of EITF 04-1 during the fourth quarter of 2004 in connection with the acquisition of Comcast Cable’s telephone business.

Critical Accounting Policies

The methods, estimates and judgments we use in applying our most critical accounting policies have a significant impact on the results we report in our consolidated financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an on-going basis. We base our estimates on historical experience and on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our experience and assumptions form the basis for our judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may vary from what we anticipate and different assumptions or estimates about the future could change our reported results. We believe the following accounting policies are the most critical to us, in that they are important to the portrayal of our financial statements and they require our most difficult, subjective or complex judgments in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

42

Table of Contents

Fair Value of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed in Purchase Combinations

The purchase combinations carried out by us require management to estimate the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the combinations. These estimates of fair value are based on our business plan for the entities acquired including planned redundancies, restructuring, use of assets acquired and assumptions as to the ultimate resolution of obligations assumed for which no future benefit will be received. We also utilize appraisal reports issued by independent appraisers. Should actual use of assets or resolution of obligations differ from our estimates, revisions to the estimated fair values would be required. If a change in estimate occurs after one year of the acquisition, the change would be recorded in our statement of operations.

Goodwill and Other Identifiable Intangibles

We assess the impairment of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets annually and on an interim basis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Some factors we consider important which could trigger an impairment review include the following: