In what has become a familiar refrain during third-quarter earnings reports for cable operators, Insight Communications said it increased its revenue-generating units in the recently completed quarter but lost some basic video subscribers.

Insight Communications finished the third quarter with 2.02 million RGUs, which was an increase of 201,400, or 11 percent, from the same quarter a year ago.

Insight lost 1,900 basic subscribers in the quarter that ended Sept . 30, for a total of 718,200 basic subs compared with 720,100 in the second quarter.

Cable operators were hit hard in the third quarter by large discounts and aggressive marketing by DirecTV and Dish Network.

Insight’s digital cable customers increased from 483,400 in the second quarter to 495,700 in the third. For digital, Insight has a 69 percent penetration rate of the company’s basic cable customers.

For high-speed Internet, Insight had a net gain of 11,900, with data customers totaling 493,400, which was a 38 percent penetration of data homes passed.

Insight had a net gain of 5,200 telephone customers in the third quarter, for a total of 311,400 customers and a 25 percent penetration of the company’s telephone service.

Insight’s revenue of $246 million was a 12 percent increase over the revenue it posted in the same quarter a year ago.

At the end of the quarter, Insight said 99 percent of its customers were passed by two-way, 750 MHz or higher plants.

Insight Communications is currently the ninth-largest cable operator in the United States, with approximately 775,700 customer relationships in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.