WideOpenWest's high-speed data subscriber declines are slowing, CEO Teresa Elder said Tuesday as the company announced its Q1 2024 results. The company said it ended the quarter with 489,700 high-speed data subscribers, down from 508,700 the same quarter a year earlier but down only slightly from Q4 2023. That's because WOW has more-simplified pricing, increased minimum speeds to 300 Mbps and boosted 500 Mbps customers to 600 Mbps, Elder said. WOW ended the quarter with 79,300 video subs, down 117,100 from a year ago. Elder said that decline comes as WOW continues a transition from its linear video offering to having customers use YouTube TV (see 2305150027). WOW took no questions during its 13-minute earnings call, citing DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners' unsolicited bid to buy it (see 2405030047).
WideOpenWest received an unsolicited nonbinding preliminary proposal from DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners to purchase WOW shares that Crestview doesn't already own for $4.80 a share, WOW said Friday. It said its board would set up a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the proposal. Crestview has a 38% stake in WOW, according to WOW's annual report.
The cable industry is urging the FCC to simplify the proposed reinstatement of the collection of FCC Form 395-A, which concerns the workforce composition of multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). Smaller MVPDs especially lack resources for handling extensive regulatory requirements, ACA Connects said in docket 98-204 comments this week. It said the agency should let 395-A submissions be made through the Cable and Operations Licensing System, which would help minimize compliance costs. It also urged that mandatory 395-A submissions not occur until at least a year from the effective date of an order reinstating data collection. NCTA also suggested ways of reducing cable operator burden, such as requiring information be made available only through the FCC-hosted Online Public Information File, rather than also through MVPD local facilities or websites. NCTA said the FCC should opt for EEO-1 forms, which would provide substantially similar information, rather than 395-As. American Free Enterprise and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said collecting and disclosing race, gender and ethnicity employee data "is intended to pressure MVPDs to discriminate in recruiting and hiring to bring their workforce composition in line with prevailing notions of 'diversity,'" They urged withdrawal of the proposed rule, saying that publishing the data to pursue increased representation of certain demographics at MVPDs goes against the Fifth Amendment.
Comcast's Now line of prepaid broadband, mobile and streaming services is a reply to fixed wireless' ongoing incursion in home broadband and "a well-considered response" to the looming end of the affordable connectivity program, GlobalData analyst Charles Garrett said Thursday. Comcast announced its Now line this week. Garrett said Now also is a move by Comcast to broaden its addressable market without cannibalizing its existing residential broadband subscriber base. He said Comcast's entry into prepaid wireless faces challenges as the U.S. prepaid marketplace is volatile and shrinking, with Verizon, AT&T and Dish Network losing a combined 547,000 prepaid subs in Q4 2023.
Charter Communications launched a pair of low-cost streaming TV packages for its Spectrum broadband subscribers. It said Tuesday that Spectrum TV Stream features more than 90 live linear channels at a cost of $40 a month, while Spectrum Stream Latino features more than 45 Spanish-language live linear channels at $25 a month.
Charter Communications' shift from a "bring your own device" mobile strategy to its Anytime Upgrade program and handset subsidization approach was inevitable, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote in a note Wednesday. Charter's BYOD strategy, which Comcast shared, had the cable operators residing largely in the low end of the mobile marketplace, he said. Competing in the larger premium market means subsidizing handsets, Moffet added. Charter notably is also offering device insurance at a rate less than what's often available from the Big Three wireless carriers, he said. Charter announced its Anytime Upgrade plan -- allowing Unlimited Plus data subscribers unlimited handset upgrades -- this week.
The Q4 2023 inflation adjustment figure for cable operators using Form 1240 is 1.63%, said the FCC Media Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics Tuesday. In the year-ago quarter, it was 3.88%.
The Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division is recommending that Charter Communications modify some ad claims about its Spectrum Business Wireless Internet Backup service. AT&T challenged the ad claims. NAD is recommending Charter modify the claims so it can avoid conveying the message that subscribers won't experience degraded or slowed service during power outages. NAD said Charter disagrees with the finding but would comply.
Vecima Networks' plans to buy the cable business unit assets of Casa Systems for $20 million could mean a return to focusing on cable and fixed broadband markets for the Casa cable unit, Dell'Oro Group's Jeff Heynen blogged Wednesday. Casa has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Vecima, meanwhile, would gain access to Casa software that can be used in scaling virtualized cable modem termination system (vCMTS) deployments at cable operators around the world, Heynen said. The deal could provide competition for Harmonic, which hugely dominates the vCMTS market, with most of its revenue coming from Comcast, an early mover in deploying vCMTS, he said. Charter Communications plans to deploy Harmonics' broadband platform but has indicated it wants multiple vendors' vCMTS platforms in its network, he said. Numerous other cable operators have yet to transition to vCMTS, he said. Vecima said it hopes to close the deal in early June.
Cox Communications' TV ad claims about its mobile service reliability are reasonable, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division said Monday. AT&T challenged claims in the ad about Cox's "unbeatable 5G reliability."