PREVIEW-Cable loses subscribers, satellite gains in Q1

* Outlook for cable companies seen worsening

* Satellite TV helped by high-definition programming

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. cable companies are expected to have lost more basic video subscribers in the first quarter due to the housing market slump, the economic slowdown and stiff competition from satellite and telephone companies.

Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is forecast to have lost 73,400 basic video customers in the quarter, compared with a drop of 21,000 at Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and a fall of 4,000 at Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), according to a Reuters poll of eight analysts.

This contrasts with Wall Street's expectation that U.S. satellite television companies DirecTV Group Inc (DTV.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Dish Network Corp (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) added a combined 320,000 subscribers in the quarter, helped by high-definition services.

"Everyone can agree that the directional trend over the year is going to get worse for cable," said Standard & Poor's analyst Tuna Amobi, who believes the economy is already in recession and sees no sign of a housing recovery this year.

While the subscriber losses are a small fraction of Comcast's total customer base of 24 million or Time Warner's 14 million, more worrying for investors, analysts said, is the slowing growth in revenue generating units (RGU). RGUs are the number of services a provider can sell to consumers such as digital video recorders, Internet access or home phone line.

"RGU growth and basic subscriber growth is going to come under more pressure," said Amobi.