Altice USA stock jumped 40% to $2.63 a share Monday after a report indicated Charter Communications was considering a bid for the New York-based cable operator.

The shares were up more than 50% in earlier trading.

The acquisition would give Charter a bigger hold on the New York metropolitan market, Bloomberg noted.

Charter’s stock was down 2% to $292 a share. Charter had no comment on the report.

Cable stocks have been hurt by competition from wireless broadband providers on top of the longer-term trend of cord-cutting weakening their TV business.

Earlier this month, Altice reported a net loss of $117.8 million for the fourth quarter and a $53.2 million loss for all of 2023.

Total revenue for Q4 was down 2.9% to $2.3 billion, and off 4.3% for all of 2023 to $9.24 billion.  

Charter Communications’ Spectrum News unit said it launched Spectrum News Plus, a streaming news network available via apps on mobile and connected TV to Spectrum subscribers. 

Spectrum News said the new network will provide localized reporting and weather from its 30 local news channels and Washington bureau.

Promos promise “balanced reporting, real conext and in-depth coverage 24 hours a day.” The network will initially program continuous news Monday through Friday. It plans to add Saturday and Sunday programming by the summer.

“By combining the power of our deeply-rooted local newsrooms with objective coverage of the day’s headlines, we are helping our audiences connect with their communities while also providing them with a comprehensive view of the world around them,” said Alison Hellman, senior VP, Spectrum News. “The launch of Spectrum News Plus will allow even more of our customers to have access to our news coverage, and furthers our commitment to and investment in providing meaningful news to our audiences wherever they are, and however they want to watch it.”

The Spectrum News App is free to anyone for a 30-day trial, after which it’s available to authenticated Spectrum customers at no additional charge.

 The channel’s lineup starts at 6 am E.T. with anchor Bree Driscoll. Sharon Tazewell anchors the weekend evening news starting at 6 p.m.

The network will also feature show from Spectrum News channels including Spectrum News NY1’s On Stage and Spectrum News 1 in California’s LA Stories with Giselle Fernandez.

Cox Media Group said it reached a long term carriage agreement with Charter Communications that will keep its local stations available to Charter’s Spectrum TV subscribers.

At year-end, many carriage agreements expired, with some leading to blackouts and others leading to threatened blackouts.

In this case, CMG pointed out, there was no disruption to consumers. Cox also reached a deal at year-end with Verizon without a blackout.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Also: Cox Stations' Investigative Teams Coordinate to Spotlight MV Realty Story

“This deal with Charter, which is consistent with our long history of carriage agreements, reflects the value of our market-leading stations and mission of delivering vital and award-winning news and entertainment programming,” CMG said in a statement. “We’re pleased to have reached this renewal without disruption to consumers, exemplifying our commitment to reaching timely and fair-market agreements with partners that negotiate in good faith.” ■

Charter Communications said it named 26-year Comcast veteran Shane Portfolio as senior VP, network engineering and technology.

The company said it also promoted Gary Koerper to senior VP, emerging technology, and Mike Baldino to senior VP, data platforms.

Portfolio, most recently senior VP of field operations engineering at Comcast, will oversee the architecture and engineering for Charter’s core access network infrastructure. He replaces Joe Godas, who is no longer with the company.

Portfolio reports to Justin Colwell, executive VP, connectivity technology at Charter.

Koerper joined Charter in 2018 as group VP Wi-Fi and connected home. Before Charter, he was with Comcast and Motorola Mobility. He also founded startups in wireless and mobile media.

Baldino has been with Charter for six years. He was group VP, data platforms before his promotion. He joined the company as VP, product intelligence. Before Charter, Baldino was with Accenture where Charter, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, Level 3 Communications and DirecTV were clients.

Koerper reports to Colwell. Baldino continues to report to Jodi Robinson, executive VP, digital platforms at Charter. ■

Comscore and Charter Communications have extended their data and measurement deal, with Charter giving Comscore credits of $4 million in 2022 and $3 million in 2023.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the credits are being applied to the payments money-losing Comscore would have had to make to license Charter’s viewer data.

As part of the agreement, Comscore will be Charter’s preferred measurement provider for seven years, up from five years in the original agreement, with an option to extend to 10 years if agreed on by both companies.

The amendment also provides for additional data parameters and specifications to assist Comscore in product development and delivery speed, as well as rights to incremental Charter data sets that become available during the contract term.

Charter helped refinance Comscore 2021 when it, along with Qurate and Cerberus Funds, made a $204 million investment it Comscore that largely wiped out the measurement company’s debt.

Charter also gave Comscore a big leg up in the big-data race by making its set-top-box data available to Comscore in 2020.

Comscore reported a $5.1 million loss in the second quarter. The company disclosed plans to restructure in September, cutting staff in a move that would result in charges of between $13 million and 18 million, including about $6 million to $8 million in severance. ■

Charter Communications is conducting a soccer trick-shot content, with the winner appearing in a spot that will air during the World Cup promoting the Spectrum Mobile Wireless service.

The promotion is part of a partnership with Comcast’s Telemundo and Peacock Premium promoting the Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup.

At the same time, a commercial featuring Mexican National Team Captain Andrés Guardado began airing Thursday. The spot offers new customers who sign up for Spectrum Mi Plan Latino and Spectrum Internet 12 months of Peacock Premium at no additional cost.

Charter’s new campaign with Guardado is aimed at building awareness of the company’s Spectrum TV, Internet and Mobile services for Spanish-speaking customers leading up to the World Cup.

The skill contest will run through September 12. Fans can submit videos of themselves performing trick shots with a soccer ball. A panel of judges will choose the winner, who will appear with Guardado in a new commercial during the World Cup.

“The World Cup is the most-watched sporting event in the world, and the anticipation and passion that soccer fans experience is profound – especially with our Spanish-speaking customers,” said Marisol Martinez, VP of multicultural marketing for Charter. “The combination of Mi Plan Latino, Spectrum Internet and Peacock Premium will give our customers the ability to watch all their favorite World Cup teams and matches in Spanish on any device at anytime, anywhere, and our partnership with Andrés Guardado will help us connect with the avid Hispanic soccer community across the U.S. while giving one lucky fan the chance to share their fútbol skills with one of the greatest midfielders in the game today.” ■

Charter Communications and Comcast Corp. said they named Marcien Jenckes president of their joint venture to build a new streaming platform.

Jenckes, who has been president of Comcast Advertising since 2017, will focus on developing the business and monetization models for the new platform, which will be built on Comcast’s Flex and include Comcast XClass TV business and the Xumo streaming service.

He will also continue to oversee Comcast’s ad sales unit.

The venture could make the cable companies a player in streaming beyond their cable footprints.

“Marcien has been an outstanding leader within our company for over a decade,” said Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable. “His blend of experience as an entrepreneur, as an expert in improving customers’ entertainment experience, and an innovator in the rapidly changing advertising environment, makes him uniquely qualified to helm this partnership with Charter.”

As part of the venture, Charter will be putting up $900 million.

“Marcien has emerged as a leading voice within the media industry,” said Tom Rutledge, Charter chairman and CEO. “He has a future-focused view of the landscape, understands the importance of this partnership and is a great choice to lead the joint venture.”

Before joining Comcast, Jenckes was an entrepreneur, involved with a number of digital advertising and media syndication start-ups including Grab Networks and Voxant. He also held leadership roles at AOL Inc. Prior to that he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company in their media and telecom practice. ■

Sinclair Broadcast Group said it signed a new distribution deal with Charter Communications that includes carriage of its regional sports networks.

In addition to 19 Bally Sports regional sports networks, the deal covers Marquee Sports Network in Chicago and the YES Network in New York. Sinclair owns a piece of Marquee and YES.

Sinclair’s broadcast stations and the Tennis Channel are also going to get continued carriage as part of the agreement.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Sinclair’s agreement with Charter Communications expired at the end of the month, but the channels and stations have remained available to cable subscribers under short term extensions.

The agreement was crucial to Sinclair because buying the RSNs from Disney left it carrying about $9 billion in debt. It would have been difficult to pay that money back without carriage fees from Charter, a major carrier.

Some distributors, including Dish Network and most of the streaming MVPDs have balked at carrying regional sports networks, because they generally have high carriage fees and require all subscribers, whether they are sports fans or not, to pay for them, raising the cost of service at a time when many consumers are cutting the cord to save money. 

Sinclair is planning to launch direct-to-consumer streaming services in some markets where it has RSNs. It was unclear how that plan is dealt with in the agreement with Charter. ■

Charter Communications said it added religious network ESNE TV to its Spectrum TV Latino channel lineups.

Aimed at the Catholic HIspanic community, ESNE will be added to Charter‘s Mi Plan Latino and Latino View TV packages at no additional cost to subscribers.

“The addition of ESNE TV to our Latino-focused video offering will give our customers access to even more Spanish-language religious programming,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand of TV, Internet, Mobile and Voice services. “ESNE TV’s wide variety of programs, including live services, films and shows, aligns with our commitment to provide programming that meets the interests of our subscribers and the communities we serve.”

The Los Angeles-based channel was started in 2002. It offers live coverage of services, including Holy Mass from the Vatican with Pope Francis on special occasions, plus news from the Vatican, films and documentaries and daily shows including En El Corazon de Jesus with a daily gospel reading.

“ESNE is more than a channel, it is a connection to God and offers a way for the Catholic community to celebrate their faith and keep their spirituality at the forefront of their daily lives,” said Rosie Sayes, director of content for ESNE TV. “We are excited to make ESNE available to Charter’s Spectrum TV customers across the country and to bring our faith-centered programming to an even wider Spanish-language audience.” 

Spectrum TV’s Mi Plan Latino features more than 140 channels in English and Spanish, including more than 75 Spanish-language channels.

ViacomCBS and Charter said they have a new multi-year distribution agreement that includes carriage of ViacomCBS’s broadcast stations and cable networks, as well as a license to sell the ViacomCBS streaming services to Charter’s Spectrum customers. 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. One of the reasons for merging Viacom with CBS was to give the company greater clout with distributor like Charter.

As media companies pivot to streaming, there has been concern that by moving the best content to direct-to-consumer services, like ViacomCBS’s Paramount Plus, cord-cutting will be encouraged, hurting cable companies. ViacomCBS has stated that it wants to continue to work with distributors.

“We are pleased to have reached a new deal to deliver ViacomCBS’ expansive portfolio of popular brands and premium programming for Spectrum audiences to enjoy, plus greater choice in how they consume our content,” said Ray Hopkins, president, U.S. Networks Distribution, ViacomCBS. “Charter is a valued partner, and we look forward to deepening our long-standing relationship.”

As part of the agreement, ViacomCBS and Charter also will expand their existing collaboration around addressable media and advanced advertising.

“These comprehensive agreements with ViacomCBS recognize the fast-changing pace of the subscription video business and provide us the flexibilities to adapt for the benefit of our customers while also furthering our strategic interests in the advanced advertising realm and aggregated video store concept with the addition of the streaming apps,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Charter.

Measurement company 605 said it has reached a new agreement with Charter Communications that extends its access to viewers' data from Charter subscribers.

605 is one of a number of analytics and attribution companies that use big data to measure programming consumption and advertising effectiveness in a more complex media environment.

Charter earlier this year was part of a group that made a major investment in Comscore, prompting some speculation that Charter might restrict the number of companies it provides with data.

Also Read: Walmart to Use 605 Platform to Improve TV Ad Planning

The new 605 deal runs through 2031. It also includes a commitment by Charter to purchase more of 605's portfolio of products and services.

“We’re greatly looking forward to Charter’s utilization of 605’s products and services to demonstrate the value of the capabilities we have worked so hard to introduce to the marketplace,” said Kristin Dolan, founder and CEO of 605. 

605 was started with backing from Dolan Family Ventures.

“As we enter our fifth year of partnership with Charter, we are very pleased to have reached an agreement that enables us to utilize their rich data set, in conjunction with our other data partners, to further advance measurement, analytics and attribution through our industry-leading products, 605 PLATF0RM and 605 IMP4CT. This enhanced relationship positions our company well for continued growth and success,” Dolan said.

Also Read; 605 Beefs Up Capabilities With New Data Alliances

In addition to its other products, 605 built an Audience App product that was audited by KPMG and achieved service organization control 3 (SOC3) compliance.

“We are excited to extend and expand our relationship with 605,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP, programming acquisition and Charter’s representative on the 605 board of directors.

“605’s capabilities have allowed us to revolutionize our approach to advertising sales and will continue to be instrumental as we provide clients with the best possible ability to reach targeted audiences. We will be working with 605 to inform our own marketing efforts around content and for our products and services,” he said. “As the future of our industry changes, there is no substitute for high-quality insights. With 605 we can be certain that we have the right data tools and solutions to ensure advertising delivers a real and meaningful return for Charter and our clients.”

Despite a recent projection that cord cutting will accelerate significantly over the next 24 months, the top five publicly traded pay TV companies lost 22.3% fewer video customers in Q1 than they did in the first three months of 2020. 

Comcast, Charter Communications, AT&T, Dish Network and Verizon combined to lose 1,561,000 video customers in Q1 vs. 2,011,000 in the same period of 2020. 

For the most part, video losses for each of these companies were worse, or largely the same, save for one operator, AT&T. That telecom lost 897,000 customers across its DirecTV satellite and U-verse “premium” platforms in the first quarter of last year, and another 138,000 from virtual MVPD AT&T TV Now. Most of the losses came in satellite TV.

In January, February and March of 2021, AT&T lost a combined 620,000 across DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV—the latter service, launched in April of last year, having subsumed AT&T TV Now. AT&T is in the process of spinning off a portion of its pay TV assets to private equity firm TPG. 

Among cable operators, Comcast saw its Xfinity TV losses accelerate to 491,000 vs. 409,000 in the first quarter of 2020, while Charter Communications saw losses expand from 70,000 to 138,000, first quarter vs. first quarter. 

In satellite, Dish Network saw flat linear customer recession of 132,000 users, but experienced improved subscriber losses for its Sling TV vMVPD, which lost only 100,000 customers vs. 280,000 in Q1 2021. 

Among telcos, Verizon’s 82,000 lost Fios TV souls were largely flat with the 84,000 shed in Q1 2020, but the company retracted to overall customer levels (3.7 million) not seen in 10 years.

This analysis leaves out a range of smaller cable companies, Altice USA, Mediacom and Cable One.  Also not included are major virtual MVPD operators Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. 

The average Charter Communications broadband-only customer is now using 700 gigabytes of data per month, according to Christopher Winfrey, the cable operator’s CFO.

Winfrey disclosed the rather shocking figure Monday while speaking at the virtual Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. The release of the data point comes after OpenVault, a company that consults cable operators on network strategy and operations, said that total average usage could reach 650 gigs by the end of the year. 

Average usage was 339 gigs in January 2020, right before the pandemic began. At the current rate of expansion, a large number of U.S. wireline broadband users could soon start bumping their heads on usage caps. 

For its part, Comcast, the biggest supplier of high-speed internet in the U.S., has delayed deployment of a 1.2 GB monthly data usage limit. But the operator did say that it will institute usage-based pricing starting next year. 

For his part, Winfrey said the high level of wireline broadband usage is the No. 1 reason wireless companies won’t be able to pry broadband marketshare from cable with fixed wireless products.

“The average wireless customers uses only 10 gigs a month,” Winfrey said. “The difference in utilization rates is significant. I don’t think that current wireless networks are designed to handle that kind of traffic.” 

Cable operators currently control about 70% of the U.S. wireline broadband market.

Winfrey, meanwhile, was also asked about Charter’s commitment to the video business, given that the operator was the only big U.S. cable company to add TV customers in 2020.

Charter was able to add 56,000 linear customers simply because it grew its broadband business by an astronomical 2.215 million subscribers in a pandemic year.

“I don’t think it’s sustainable to add video subscribers absent of the unique conditions we saw last year,” Winfrey said.

Ovation said it will again be collaborating with Charter Communications on the network’s Stand for the Arts Awards initiative.

The initiative, which recognizes local arts, cultural and educational organizations, is part of Ovation’s Stand for the Arts programs. 

Ovation is contributing $50,000 to support winning arts group in five Charter Spectrum markets.

“Together with Charter, we’re thrilled to provide support to community-driven art organizations, especially in times like these when they may need it most.” said Sol Doten, senior VP, content distribution marketing at the network. “Ovation encourages everyone to advocate for arts access in their community and to enjoy and support the arts in their own way throughout the pandemic."

The winning organizations are Artes de la Rose, Ft. Worth, Texas; The Baldwin Wallace Community Arts School, Berea, Ohio; Hawai’i Arts Alliance, Honolulu; SoundBites, Columbia, S.C.; and Writers & Books, Rochester, N.Y.,

“Even in this challenging time, these five local organizations are doing meaningful work, showing how access to the arts and arts education can bring diverse communities together and enrich the lives of their residents,” said Adam Falk, senior VP, State Government Affairs at Charter. “Charter is pleased to extend this partnership with Ovation for a fourth consecutive year and support the creative work of these arts organizations, as part of our commitment to invest and improve the communities we serve.”

The advertising-sales arms of top cable operators Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications have produced a playbook designed to help distributors, programmers, media buyers and advertisers take advantage of their addressable advertising capabilities.

The playbook is the latest step in the cable operators’ On Addressability initiative, started in 2019 as a way to increase the effectiveness and value of television advertising.

Featured in the playbook, available to anyone in the industry via the website OnAddressability.com, are a step-by-step technical guide to help programmers and distributors launch addressable advertising, a buyer’s guide to addressable TV and a seller’s guide to addressable TV advertising. There are also definitions of terms used in addressable advertising and an overview of standards that the group hopes the industry will adopt in order achieve scale and simplicity of use.

“Since the launch of On Addressability, we’ve been talking with major programmers and distributors to help marketers incorporate addressability into their TV strategies to drive better results,” Comcast Advertising president Marcien Jenckes said. “Despite this progress, however, there are still challenges for both buyers and sellers alike. That was the impetus for the playbook. The timing could not be better. In the current environment, advertisers are ready to pivot, and we need to be ready, too. The technology is there. Now we just need to bring advertisers a more scalable and consistent offering — and do it quickly.”

Jenckes, Charter executive VP David Kline (president of Spectrum Reach) and Cox Media senior VP Louis Gump discussed the initiative at the Advanced Advertising Summit on Sept. 15, part of Future’s Fall TV Events 2020. 

The companies have a combined reach of more than 30 million homes for addressable ads, Kline said, with AMC Networks and Discovery doing the first tests and the program being fully implemented in Q4. “I think we’re going to probably, before we’re done with this, add more [distributors] to it, so we can scale the way the industry needs,” he said.

Gump said Cox customers wanted more capabilities in terms of measuring ad-sales results, prompting Cox to join forces with the other companies. He said, though, “we can’t do it alone. If we are truly going to serve our customers, it has to be a joint effort. And so I would think of this as something that is not just the MSOs, but it’s also agencies, it’s brands and  various enablers around the ecosystem” looking to build businesses and serve consumers better. 

Traditional TV-advertising growth was slow before the pandemic hit, closing business and forcing those that were open to rethink how they were spending their advertising dollars. 

The industry has touted addressable advertising — the ability to send different targeted messages to different audiences rather than broadcast the same commercial to all viewers — as a way to be more effective and better compete with digital media.

With different distributors using different technology and protocols in different parts of the country, advertisers and media buyers found it complicated to do addressable ad campaigns at scale, leading to calls for industry-wide standards and more cooperation and interoperability among cable operators and other distributors.

The On Addressability campaign is designed to tell marketers that the industry now has the capability to run campaigns at scale, and that it has become easier to plan, buy and evaluate addressable TV campaigns.

To view this panel and other Advanced Advertising Summit sessions on demand,
go to falltvevents.com.

The advertising sales arms of top cable operators Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications have produced a playbook designed to help distributors, programmers, media buyers and advertisers take advantage of their addressable advertising capabilities.

The playbook is the latest step in the cable operators’ On Addressability initiative started in 2019 as a way to increase the effectiveness and value of television advertising.

Hear More About The Playbook at the Advanced Advertising Summit Tuesday: Comcast’s Marcien Jenckes, Charter’s David Kline and Cox’s Louis Gump are keynote speakers. Register now.

Featured in the playbook, available to anyone in the industry via the website www.onaddressability.com, a step-by-step technical guide to help programmers and distributors launch addressable advertising, a buyer’s guide to addressable TV and a sellers guide to addressable TV advertising. There are also definitions of terms used in addressable advertising and an overview of standards that the group hopes the industry will adopt in order achieve scale and simplicity of use.

“Since the launch of On Addressability, we’ve been talking with major programmers and distributors to help marketers incorporate addressability into their TV strategies to drive better results. Despite this progress, however, there are still challenges for both buyers and sellers alike. That was the impetus for the playbook,” said Marcien Jenckes, president, Comcast Advertising. “The timing could not be better. In the current environment, advertisers are ready to pivot, and we need to be ready, too. The technology is there. Now we just need to bring advertisers a more scalable and consistent offering – and do it quickly.”

Related: Comcast Tries to Unite Cable Industry on Addressable Ads

Traditional television advertising growth was slow before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, closing business and forcing those that were open to rethink how they were spending their advertising dollars. 

The industry has touted addressable advertising--the ability to send different targeted messages to different audiences rather than broadcast the same commercial to all viewers--as a way to be more effective and better compete with digital media.

With different distributors using different technology and protocols in different parts of the country, advertisers and media buyers found it complicated to do addressable ad campaigns at scale, leading to calls for industry-wide standards and more cooperation and interoperability among cable operators and other distributors.

The Advanced Advertising Summit has more on Addressable Advertising: Top execs from Xandr, Nielsen, Canoe and Ampersand are panelists Tuesday. Register Now.

The On Addressability campaign is designed to tell marketers that the industry now has the capability to run campaigns at scale and that it has become easier to plan, buy and evaluate addressable TV campaigns.

“To maximize the value that television brings to marketers as a full-funnel solution, we must ensure that addressability rolls out in a secure, simple, and scalable way,” said David Kline, executive VP, Charter Communications and President, Spectrum Reach. “This will take the commitment of the entire television advertising ecosystem. As a frontline distributor of addressable solutions, Spectrum Reach is eager to work with our partners Comcast and Cox to share our thinking and learnings and help accelerate this process.”

Related: AMC Networks Signs Up With Addressable Ad Group

In June AMC Networks signed up with the On Addressability partners and said it would make a portion of its commercial inventory available for addressable advertising. In July, Discovery also signed up for On Addressability, saying it would be offering advertisers the ability to dynamically insert ads into programming in both video on demand and linear environments.

Related: Discovery Joins MSOs’ On Addressability Initiative

One constraint on addressable advertising is the only inventory available to cable operators is the two minutes of local advertising time in each hour of programming the get as part of their distribution agreements with networks.

Addressable advertising is particularly useful at a time when brands are carefully scrutinizing how to spend their marketing dollars and analyzing the results of their advertising investments, the operators said.

“The interest in data-driven, audience-based TV advertising strategies from both media buyers and TV sellers has never been stronger, and we face a set of common challenges to realize our full potential,” said Louis Gump, senior VP, Cox Media. “The fastest way to clear these hurdles is to work together as an industry to determine best practices, improve processes, and share strategies for success. On Addressability is helping the industry move toward these goals, and the playbook is one tangible example of these efforts.”

The playbook’s buyer’s guide offers strategies for incorporating addressability into media strategies to drive specific advertising objectives

The seller’s guide has learnings on executing addressable TV campaigns for marketers with scalable and easy-to-use solutions.

A Federal District Court judge rules against Charter Communications’ motion to dismiss a $10 billion lawsuit brought by Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks.

Entertainment Studios claims that Charter is discriminating against its channels in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Judge George Wu said that Allen had met the requirements set for discrimination suits and that Entertainment Studios may proceed with pre-trial disclosures and begin discovery. 

Related: Comcast, Byron Allen Reach Accord on Carriage

“Charter once again tried to claim in a court of law that the First Amendment gives them the right to discriminate against Black people. This is a despicable, racist legal position, and I’m highly-confident Charter CEO Tom Rutledge and the Charter Board of Directors will be held fully accountable,” said Allen, the founder and CEO of Entertainment Studios and the Allen Media Group. “Charter will continue to lose this case, and I am going to make an example of them for all of America to see, because structural racism will not be tolerated. Systemic racism kills us in the schoolroom, kills us in the boardroom, and kills us in the courtroom, long before it kills us in the streets.” 

In a statement, Charter said that “promoting diversity and inclusion are core objectives across our company and a priority in our operations, including the products, services and the programming we offer. We regularly review the programming lineup to ensure our content appeals to our diverse audience. Charter offers programming services produced by minority-owned companies, including several owned by Byron Allen.”

Related: Charter to Invest $10M to Support Black-Owned Small Businesses

It added that “decisions on which networks to carry are based on business considerations, such as cost, quality, uniqueness of content, and customer demand. We are disappointed by this ruling, and stand by our position that race played no role whatsoever in our programming decision regarding these networks and we will continue to vigorously defend against these false claims.”

Allen had also sued Comcast in a case that reached the Supreme Court. That dispute ended in June with an agreement that called for the carriage of Allen-owned properties including The Weather Channel, Allen’s 14 TV stations and a host of other cable channels. 

Roku has asked the FCC not to grant Charter Communications' request to end early deal terms tied to the cable company’s purchases of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks back in 2016.

Also read: Charter Seeking to Charge Video Companies for Interconnection

“In-home broadband internet access service is fundamental to full participation in all spheres of our digital world, and until there is effective competition throughout the country for terrestrial broadband internet access services, the Commission should remain vigilant against any efforts by internet service providers (“ISPs”) to weaken constraints on their power to implement anti-competitive measures,” Roku said in comments filed to the FCC Aug. 6.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

In June, Charter formally requested that conditions tied to its mega-merger, set to last seven years beyond a 2016 start date, be ended two years early.

Charter is seeking relief from a regulatory condition that requires it to offer to interconnect its IP network to any qualifying entity free of charge and on standardized terms.

Charter is also seeking restrictions on its ability to impose data caps and usage-based pricing on its customers.

With these conditions in place, Charter was able to gain endorsement for its mergers from the biggest online video company of them all, Netflix.

In its June FCC filings, Charter conceded that the agency's reasoning for the conditions was based on protecting the “OVD” (online video distributor) marketplace. But that now robust market no longer needs that protection, Charter said.

“The OVD marketplace has flourished in the four years since the merger closed,” Charter said. “In fact, far from seeking to harm OVDs, Charter, like many other established broadband providers, is actually actively working to increase its subscribers’ access to online video services. Eliminating these Conditions at the end of five years will therefore advance, rather than thwart the competitive gains that have been made, giving Charter the flexibility it needs to best meet the data usage needs of all of its subscribers and to configure its network to deliver data in the most efficient way possible.”

Poppycock!

Roku said in its comments that in basing its request on the current flourishing state of the streaming video marketplace, Charter misconstrues the original intent of the FCC’s conditions.

“That claim is simply not correct,” Roku said. “The underlying rationale for the conditions was not the state of the OVD marketplace. Rather, the rationale the Commission cited in adopting the conditions was twofold: 1) the incentives of Charter post-merger to act anti-competitively toward OVDs, and 2) the lack of competition in the provision of terrestrial broadband that otherwise would constrain Charter from acting anti-competitively. The Charter petition addresses neither of those concerns."

Charter Communications said today that downstream data usage across its network has increased nearly 20%, while upstream traffic is spiked 32%, as its customers work, school and entertain themselves exclusively at home amid national COVID-19 shelter-in-place decrees.

The network usage insight from the No. 2 U.S. cable operator comes two weeks after Comcast’s top technologists, Tony Werner, conducted a conference call with reporters and revealed that in certain early-adopter markets, namely San Francisco and Seattle, data usage had increased as much as 60%.

Related: Comcast Tech Chief Werner: Peak Traffic Up 60% in Some Cities, But Network Is Handling It

In Charter’s case, the belated messaging came in the form of a company-issued “Q&A” with recently minted CTO Stephanie Mitchko-Beale.

“Thus far we have seen a substantial increase in network activity, particularly in the daytime, with more people working and learning from home,” Mitchko-Beale said in the pre-packaged statement.

“In many households daytime internet traffic has doubled, even tripled from pre-pandemic levels; however, peak demand continues to be during the primetime TV-viewing hours, 8-9 p.m.,” she added. “The demand on both the downstream and upstream traffic is driven by streaming video applications. We also have seen a substantial increase in the use of other applications in the past month for remote work. The use of video communications services such as WebEx, Zoom and Skype has increased, and downloads of video games have more than doubled in the past month.”

Mitchko-Beale used the opportunity to tout Charter’s investments in DOCSIS 3.1 network infrastructure.

“We’ve invested $40 billion over the last five years in new technology and network upgrades,” she noted. “This includes investments in our fiber backbone, and customer-facing projects like Charter’s recent conversion to all-digital, which freed up capacity in our hybrid-fiber-coaxial network. These investments ensure that even in times of crisis we can deliver exactly what our customers need – reliable high-speed internet with enough capacity to support even the most high-bandwidth activities, such as HD video streaming and multi-player gaming on numerous devices.”

Charter Communications has formally announced its adoption of OpenSync, an open-source managed WiFi technology developed by WiFi tech company Plume.

Charter said it’s already using OpenSync in Austin, Texas, allowing customers visibility into their home WiFi networks, as well as the ability to control the usage of individual devices.

The official announcement of the MSO’s OpenSync adoption comes as most wireline broadband providers—including much smaller cable companies—already have deployed managed WiFi services. It also comes just over a month after MCN reported the Charter-Plume partnership out of Cable-Tec Expo.

Related: Charter To Team with Plume For Managed WiFi

“Advanced in-home WiFi provides Spectrum Internet and WiFi customers with the ability to optimize their home networks, offering both detailed insights and providing greater control of their connected devices to deliver an unmatched home WiFi experience,” said Rich DiGeronimo, Charter’s chief product and technology officer, in a statement. “Integrating our core advanced technology and leading WiFi router with the OpenSync cloud platform and software stack allows us to nimbly deliver best-of-breed features and services.

“Approximately 300 million devices are connected to our vast network, and we take seriously our responsibility to deliver fast, reliable service, while protecting and securing our customers’ online private information,” DiGeronimo added.

OpenSync has already been adopted by Comcast and Liberty Global, among other cable companies.

“Leveraging OpenSync, Charter has taken a bold step by decoupling the curation and delivery of smart home services from the CPE hardware, gaining a massive time-to-market and scalability advantage,” said Fahri Diner co-founder and CEO of Plume.

AMC Networks has announced that Charter Communications will launch its full suite of subscription video on demand services, along with its premium ad-free linear channel, AMC Premiere.

The inclusion of Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and UMC is part of a broader long-term carriage agreement inked between the programmer and cable operator earlier. That deal includes carriage of linear networks AMC, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV, WE tv and BBC World News.

Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed. AMC didn't offer a timeline as to when the SVOD services and AMC Premiere will be available to Spectrum TV subscribers. 

Related: Charter X1 Talks Continue, Xfinity Flex Now Part of the Discussion

“As both of our businesses continue to evolve, we are very pleased to expand our relationship by enriching Charter’s offering with our targeted SVOD services. Much like our networks, our SVOD services serve passionate audiences with the content they love,” said Ed Carroll, AMC Networks COO, in a statement.

“With partners like AMC Networks, we’re strategically enabling our customers to have greater control over the content they want, in one place through their Spectrum subscription, and with pricing flexibility to meet their needs,” added Tom Montemagno, exec VP of programming acquisition for Charter.

The announcement that Charter will be adding more app-based services to its customers comes just days after top company executives openly discussed licensing X1 video technology from Comcast—specifically, the No. 1 U.S. cable operator’s Flex streaming box. 

Fox Corp. and Charter Communications said they have reached a long-term carriage deal for the former’s news, sports and entertainment channels, including an agreement to address unauthorized access to content.

The agreement covers distribution of the Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, and Fox Deportes, as well as video on demand and TV Everywhere rights for the channels.

“We are pleased that our renewed agreement provides Charter customers with continued access to our entire suite of networks and expands the ways in which they can access the Fox brands through additional video-on-demand and TV Everywhere platforms,” Fox president of operations and distribution Michael Biard said in a press release. “We appreciate Charter’s professional and collaborative approach throughout this process, and we look forward to expanding on our partnership in the days ahead.”

One of Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge’s pet peeves over the past several years -- password sharing -- also is addressed in the new agreement. 

In the press release, Charter EVP programming acquisition Tom Montemagno said the pact “allows continued access to all of the Fox programming for our customers and FOX viewers, but it will also amplify our mutual efforts to address piracy and abusive password sharing issues. We appreciate Fox’s desire to further collaborate as the video landscape continues to evolve.”

Charter Communications has announced the hiring of longtime NBCUniversal PR operative Cameron Blanchard as the cable company’s new corporate communications chief.

Operating under the title of senior VP of communications, and commuting to the Stamford, Connecticut headquarters from her Brooklyn home base, Blanchard will report directly to David Ellen, senior executive VP of Charter.

Blanchard most recently served as chief communications officer for Condé Nast. But she spent 19 years at NBCU, most recently at the senior VP level.

Justin Venech, who has occupied Charter’s top corp-com role for several years, will remain group VP, reporting to Blanchard.

"Cameron is a true communications professional whose expertise and leadership will be an asset to the Company," said Ellen, in a statement. "Cameron will play an instrumental role as Charter continues advancing new technologies and services and strengthens its leadership position in the industry."

Charter Communications chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge has never been afraid to tout his belief in the continued strength of the cable bundle to about anyone who would listen, and this week was no different, even as his cable company doubled video losses in the most recent quarter. In Charter’s Q2 earnings conference call with analysts Friday, Rutledge again voiced his belief in the continued power of wrapping video, voice and data products together, blaming the perceived decline of video on reckless programmers.

Charter lost about 150,000 residential video customers in Q2, more than double the 73,000 it lost in the prior year. But Rutledge refused to blame the decline only on the trend toward smaller video packages from streaming services. According to him, equally at fault are content providers who have wrecked what had been a working model by letting customers share passwords for streaming services and making content available for free on their own apps and websites.

“Our video strategy today is to not look at video as a standalone business,” Rutledge told analysts on the call, adding that Charter sells connectivity. And to him, connectivity involves all products, not just broadband. Connectivity to the internet, to content networks and to each other via broadband, pay TV and wireless.

“There is still a lot of value in the bundle to a lot of consumers,” Rutledge said. “The problem with the bundle of video today is that the content companies that supply it have essentially put their services for free available everywhere, through TV Everywhere, excessive streams, password sharing, and free over the air television. It’s hard to compete with free.”

That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed Charter for any length of time. Rutledge has consistently lamented password sharing among customers as a major pain and other executives may feel the same way, but they don’t say it nearly as much. That has attracted some ridicule from some analysts, but for the most part many see the focus on broadband as a strength for cable.

[embed]https://twitter.com/RichatTBD/status/1154739211897114625[/embed]

“We look at video as an attribute of our overall customer relationship,” Rutledge said. “We want to have the best video services of all the kinds available and make it easy for consumers to consume our product. We look it as an attribute of the connectivity relationship we have with the customer.”

That’s nice, but there is no denying that many cable operators are increasingly looking at video as more of a nuisance that is getting in the way of selling more profitable broadband service. Every major provider has more broadband customers than video customers, and the gap will only widen. Sure, they still want the video subscribers that buy the Platinum package with all the premium channels and spend $300 per month, but they’re getting more and more annoyed with customers that want really narrow packages for low prices that they are powerless to provide.

I have personally heard some operators say that they don’t even care that much about video price increases anymore -- if the price of a network or a broadcast station is too high, so what, they can just pass it along to the customer. And if the customer wants to switch video providers, so be it. Chances are cable broadband is still the best service around, so the operator just converts that subscriber to a broadband-only customer paying $65 per month for service instead of the bundled price of $45 per month. And there is considerably less hassle.

That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is getting clear that video is becoming less and less of a focus. MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett has been a cheerleader for accelerated video losses -- in one report he said a broadband customer is seven times more valuable than a video customer. After Charter reported its Q2 results, Moffett noted that its video losses accelerated to 2.2% in the period from 1.7% in Q1, but were still less than half the 5% rate of decline for the rest of the industry.

And it should be noted that customer relationships are on the rise, mainly because of broadband growth. Charter added 203,000 customer relationships in Q2, up from 196,000 last year. And with that, profit margins should grow as video-connected costs fall. Moffett noted that Charter’s cost of service decreased by about 1% -- the second consecutive quarter of declines -- and marketing costs were flat.

Related: Moffett: Let Video Find its Own Level 

On the conference call, Rutledge said he doesn’t like raising video prices for customers, mainly because they don’t understand that the increase is coming from the content provider, not the distributor. And that has an impact on how that customer perceives the service provider as a whole. Think about that for a second. Look at the customer satisfaction surveys over the past few years and how customers say how much they hate their cable provider and love their broadband service, not realizing they are the same company.

“I don’t like raising prices to our customers,” Rutledge said. “Customers don’t know where the price increase is coming from and they attribute it to us and that affects our overall satisfaction and our overall relationship and our brand equity so to speak with the customer. I think hitting rates and asking people to disconnect is not a very attractive way to manage a video business. On the other hand, if you don’t fight the programmers to maintain some sort of price integrity for the customer, they’ll pass through a lot of product. It’s a balancing act from my point of view.”

Now programmers will argue, correctly, that developing and buying high quality programming costs money, and pay TV wouldn’t be pay TV without content. Broadcasters have said consistently that they get about 12% to 14% of the economics while representing 35% of total viewership. But I think they are missing a key point here. Cable operators aren’t really saying that their programming isn’t worth much, they’re saying that customers don’t want to pay that much for it. And the blame for that lies squarely in content’s court, according to Rutledge.

“What I really wish is that the price value of programming wasn’t being destroyed by the programmers,” Rutledge said. “The reason I say that is, if you do a 10% programming price increase and you lose 10% of your customers, you don’t really get anywhere and yet you’ve alienated a lot of people. That is actually happening.”

Rutledge argued that programmers don’t fully realize price increases on their revenue line because they make their product available for free, either directly or by ignoring what he claims is a “massive” amount of password sharing. And aside from the obvious financial pitfalls, those practices have other consequences.

“That changes the price value relationship with the customers and makes it impossible [for operators] to raise prices and generate revenue,” Rutledge said. “My wish would be that the content industry would manage their content and their copyright to their own benefit instead of pushing through price. We still think we have a lot of video customers and they don’t want to have price increases, so I expect continuous fighting for the foreseeable future.” 

Charter’s original content unit, Spectrum Originals, has a acquired a series from Spain’s MedaPro Studios.

Todo por el Juego (“Side Games”) is a Spanish-language adaptation of the book El Fútbol no es Así. It was adapted by Argentine screenwriter Eduardo Sacheri and will appear on demand for Charter pay TV users on July 15 with subtitles.

The show follows a Spanish businessman who rises quickly into the management of a top-flight European pro soccer team, dealing with politics, organized crime and other drama.

“With its strong embrace by Latin American audiences and the massive popularity of soccer as a backdrop, we believe this wonderfully written dramatic series will appeal to both the large and the growing Spanish-speaking viewership in the U.S., as well as everyone who loves sophisticated drama,” said Spectrum Originals chief Katherine Pope, in a statement.

“We are very satisfied with this agreement with Spectrum Originals, which extends the international reach of the series, in line with the distribution strategy followed with all our major productions and at a time when fiction in Spanish is more in demand than ever,” added Javier Mendez, chief content officer as The Mediapro Studio.

Related: Charter’s Spectrum Originals Shingle Picks Up ‘Paradise Lost’

The news follows an announcement earlier this month that Spectrum Originals picked up Southern Gothic series Paradise Lost from Paramount Network and Anonymous Content.

The original content division also announced the second-season greenlight of its first series, buddy cop show L.A.’s Finest. This came despite largely poor reviews from critics, as well as an on-set accident in February that cost co-showrunner Brandon Sonnier the lower part of a leg. 

DENVER -- With the pay TV eco-system losing around 1.4 million customers in the first quarter, per estimates, the smart money wouldn’t seem to be on the bundle coalescing anew.

But that was the very idea put forth by a couple of pay TV industry pundits at a video trade show in Denver this week.

“The return of the big bundle—that’s where we’re headed,” declared Scott Ehrlich, VP of emerging platform Content, Sinclair Broadcast Group, speaking on a panel Tuesday. “Everything that gets disaggregated gets re-aggregated.

According to fellow panelist Gary Schanman, senior VP of products for Charter Communications, many customers are coming to the realization that they can’t beat the value of his company’s managed network video services on price, now that many virtual MVPDs have upped their monthly fees.

“We still think we have an advantage,” Schanman said.

Meanwhile, the panelists said that media companies—now charged with distributing, marketing and doing pretty much everything else needed to get their shows seen in direct-to-consumer models—might soon miss the ease of the pay TV bundle.

“It’s really hard. You’re going to see a lot of guys try to get into [direct-to-consumer], blow through their libraries, and then blow through their budgets,” said Bob Greene, managing director of business development for Liberty Global.

“You’re going to see them return,” he added.

“How much money do you save wholesaling through a company that provides you with delivery, marketing and customer service?” said Ehrlich. 

Indeed, at the Pay TV Show, a recurrent theme has been that the rumor of the bundle's demise is overblown. 

Also speaking at the Pay TV Show, Wolfe Research analyst Marci Ryvicker said that cord cutting will eventually "even out," with around 70 million users remaining in the linear ecosystem. 

"I think the bundle is going to stick around for a while. People will start to come back," added Samantha Cooper, executive VP of distribution and development for Viacom, speaking on a Wednesday morning panel. 

With 2019 less than two weeks old the books are closed on the latest retrans-spat-to-end-all-retrans-spats -- Tribune Media’s eight-day blackout of 33 stations in 24 Charter Communications markets, shaking hands on a “comprehensive” agreement Jan. 11, that gives  Charter customers renewed access to Tribune stations and the second round of the National Football League playoffs. But I can’t help but think that both sides missed an opportunity to really make a difference.

While terms were not disclosed, it’s likely that Charter agreed to a fee increase, although not as high as Tribune had first suggested. And the 6 million or so cable company customers that were without the Tribune stations will get them back, probably a little more frustrated with their provider than usual. In time they will forget it, until the next retrans spat happens and they will have yet another reason to hate their cable company again.

Related: Retrans' Hobson's Choice

While I guess it’s good news that Charter and Tribune reached a deal, part of me wished that the impasse lasted longer. Because almost every year since I’ve been covering these things, someone has said this will be the year that a major operator will go to the mattresses on retrans, refusing to carry a station and break the cycle of double- and triple-digit rate increases and bring a modicum of sanity back to pay TV rates. And every year it doesn’t happen.

Some have come close. Most pundits still expect Dish Network and its maverick chairman Charlie Ergen to one day take the plunge with a Big 4 broadcaster -- it already has been without Spanish-language broadcaster Univision since June 30 and says it is likely the blackout is permanent -- but overall the idea has been mostly wishful thinking.  In the end, operator’s cave because there is a real economic impact.

It’s no coincidence that retrans deals usually expire around major events -- college and pro football playoffs, The Oscars, the World Series, the Super Bowl -- you get the gist.

Compelling programming, especially sports programming, gives fans an incentive to switch providers during a blackout. And operators remember what can happen when a fight lasts too long -- Time Warner Cable lost more than 300,000 customers in Q3 2013 after a one-month blackout of CBS stations in August of that year. While there were other factors, that exodus is what many pundits first led Charter to see an opportunity to take over the cable company. The rest is history and understandably, many companies are unwilling to take that risk.

Some disputes have lasted longer -- Charter was without Northwest Broadcasting stations for five months last year -- but they usually involve small station groups in equally small markets. For the most part, these scuffles usually get resolved fairly quickly, and the rhetoric that at first is breathless and full of over-hyped vitriol -- THE EVIL CABLE COMPANY IS PREVENTING YOU FROM WATCHING YOUR FAVORITE SHOWS and GREEDY BROADCASTERS ARE EMPTYING YOUR WALLETS are common retorts from both sides early in the process -- quickly becomes dull boilerplate when a deal is reached -- “We are pleased that we were able to reach an agreement.

In the meantime, retrans and sports continues to be a huge part of customers’ overall cable bills. Operators have tried to offset some of that cost by breaking out the fees in broadcast TV and RSN surcharges, but that doesn’t help the customer. According to industry website TV Answerman, Comcast alone will charge $16.50 per month this year just in broadcast and RSN fees. That’s nearly four times the $4.25 per month they charged in 2015.

What if they didn’t have to charge that anymore? How do think Comcast customers would react to a $20 per month reduction in their cable bill?

Look, I understand there is two sides to every story -- broadcasters have come to depend on retrans fees to offset declines in the ad market and they spend a lot of money on content. But estimates are that retrans fees will be around $10.8 billion in 2019, and it’s only going to get worse.

Related: Panel: Retrans Pie Will Grow

Nexstar, which expects to close its Tribune deal in the third quarter, has boasted it would get an extra $70 million in retrans fees just by putting those newly acquired stations on its rate card. And Evercore ISI media analyst Vijay Jayant said that stations that account for 55% to 60% of Nexstar’s total reach will be up for renewal in 2019-2020. Add to that the expected aggressiveness of New Fox once its deal with Disney closes in the first quarter and it could get really bad, really fast.

The TV business has a tendency to take a good idea and beat it out of existence, and unfortunately, in the case of retrans it is in danger of doing just that. Remember that the reason a lot of the so-called virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors came into existence was to counter the high cost of pay TV. If pay TV is no longer footing the bill -- getting out of the TV business altogether to concentrate on broadband, or encouraging customers to use antennas to get broadcast stations over the air -- it is unlikely that the streaming services will take up the mantle. Because if they do, they’ll just become traditional pay -TV companies using a different technology.

That leaves the ball in the content companies’ court, who will either have to reduce fees or find other sources to tap. But something has to be done and it has to be done soon. Because ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. 

Charter Communications has agreed to a $174.2 million settlement with New York state in connection with a suit that alleged the cable company defrauded consumers by delivering slower than advertised internet speeds.

The suit, filed in 2017, dated back to Charter’s predecessor in New York -- Time Warner Cable -- and claimed both companies delivered deficient cable modems that could not provide as-advertised internet speeds. In some cases, according to the original suit, customers’ premium data speeds were as much as 70% slower than advertised and WiFi speeds were up to 80% slower than promised.

The New York Daily News first broke the story Tuesday. 

The settlement includes $62.5 million in direct refunds to customers, a figure the AG’s office believes is the largest-ever payout to consumers by an internet service provider in U.S. history.

“This settlement should serve as a wakeup call to any company serving New York consumers: fulfill your promises, or pay the price,” said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood in a statement. “Not only is this the largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider, returning tens of millions of dollars to New Yorkers who were ripped off and providing additional streaming and premium channels as restitution – but it also sets a new standard for how internet providers should fairly market their services.”

News of the settlement comes just days after the New York Public Service Commission extended the deadline for Charter to submit a six-month plan for its exit from the state. The company and the PSC continue to negotiate to keep the cable operator in New York.

In a statement, Charter stressed that the actions were made by its predecessor company -- it purchased Time Warner Cable in 2016 -- and that it has made several enhancements to service in New York since closing that deal, including increasing minimum data speeds to 100 Mbps, offering 1-Gigabit service throughout the state as well as a low-cost broadband offering -- Internet Assist - to lower income consumers in the state.

“We are pleased to have reached a settlement with the Attorney General on the issue of certain Time Warner Cable advertising practices in New York prior to our merger, and to have put this litigation behind us. Charter has made, and continues to make, substantial investments enhancing internet service across the state of New York since our 2016 merger, as acknowledged by the Attorney General in this settlement. We look forward to continue providing the best TV, Internet, Voice and Mobile products to our customers, and to bringing broadband to more homes and businesses across the state.”

According to the most recent settlement, about 700,000 active Charter subscribers in New York will each receive refunds of between $75 and $150 each. About 2.2 million active customers will receive streaming services and premium channels, valued at about $100 million, at no charge.

Charter will notify subscribers of their eligibility for refunds and disburse them within 120 days.

Additionally, under the settlement, Charter is required to implement a series of marketing and business reforms, including the requirement to describe internet speeds as “wired” and to substantiate them through regular speed testing. 

Comcast said it has completed its 18-month mission to deploy DOCSIS 3.1-enabled 1-gig services.

The operator said that its DOCSIS 3.1-enabled 1-gig services are now available to 58 million homes and businesses, completing a rollout that started around 18 months ago.

Comcast would not reveal how many of its more than 26.5 million broadband customers are paying for 1 Gbps services. However, the company said that 75% of its subscribers have downstream speeds in excess of 100 Mbps.

Related: Comcast Broadens DOCSIS 3.1 Rollout

Comcast’s announcement coincides with similar benchmark from other cable operators. Charter recently said that it was 95% done with DOCSIS 3.1, while Cox Communications claims to be about 90% finished.

Speaking to MCN, Eric Schaefer, senior VP and general manager of broadband, automation and communications for Comcast, directed the attention to xFi, the operator’s Wi-Fi management solutions. He said 15.9 million Comcast homes currently use the product.

“A lot of folks are going to talk about speed, but what’s important for the vast majority fo people is converge and control in the home,” Schaefer said.

In anticipation of the commercial launch of its mobile product, Charter Communications recently kicked off a field trial with 5,000 employees, with plans to have them go through the end-to-end sales activation and service process in May, Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said Friday on the company’s Q1 call.

Charter is also in the process of building out its sales channels and service capabilities for the coming product, a project that includes modifying several hundred of its retail stores and preparing its call centers.

Rutledge said Charter is likewise on track to launch the offering, which will be called Spectrum Mobile and lean on an MVNO deal with Verizon Wireless, around mid-2018.

Charter has not announced specifics on how it will price and sell its new mobile product, which will also take advantage of Charter’s WiFi infrastructure.

“Ultimately, the goal is to use our mobile service to attract and retain cable bundled, multi-product customers,” he said.

Rutledge also said the 50/50 joint venture with Comcast focused on the mobile backoffice platform and operations will help Charter accelerate its ability to scale its mobile offering.

RELATED: Comcast, Charter Form Mobile Platform Partnership

He also reiterated Charter’s plan to underpin the company’s wireless/mobile effort using a mix of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, including millimeter wave spectrum in the neighborhood of 28 GHz as well as the emerging shared spectrum CBRS 3.5 GHz band.

RELATED: Charter Sees Potential Compromise on CBRS License Areas

Rutledge estimated that Charter has about 250 million authenticated wireless devices connected to its network of 25 million small cells.

RELATED: Small Cells to Play Big Role in Charter’s Mobile Future

Charter didn’t outline specific EBITA losses it will absorb from the mobile services rollout, but using those at Comcast is “as a proxy as good as any at this point,” Charter CFO Chris Winfrey, said.

Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile business generated an EBIDTA loss of $189 million in Q1.

RELATED: Comcast Adds 197K Xfinity Mobile Customer Lines in Q1

“The biggest driver there is the level of subscriber acquisition…there’s a lot of upfront subscriber acquisition costs,” Winfrey said. “Once you get to a steady year state growth the business not only has a positive EBIDTA, but a positive free cash flow contribution on a stand-alone basis. So the faster we grow, the more short-term pressure we put onto EBITDA and free cash flow."

Though pricing and packaging and marketing of their respective mobile products will differ, Charter also sees the J.V. with Comcast as a reducer of operating costs.

“The impact is driven by the speed at which we roll the business out and how successful we are in the market,” Rutledge added.

Moving to broadband, about 25% of Charter’s customer base gets minimum downstream speeds of 200 Mbps, and DOCSIS 3.1, along with 1-Gig services, is deployed to about 43% of that footprint. Charter expects to wrap its network deployment of D3.1 by year end.

RELATED: Charter Brings Spectrum Internet Gig Service to 14M More Homes

Charter capex spending rose $628 million year-over-year, to $2.18 billion, driven by an all-digital transition that requires the purchase and rollout of new two-way set-tops and other consumer premises equipment. Just $17 million of capex in Q1 was mobile-related. Charter expects cable capital intensity this year to be a bit lower than 2017, however.

Rutledge said Charter expects to be wholly-digitized by year and as it completes the process in legacy Time Warner Cable and Bright House Network areas. 

Charter Communications announced that it has expanded the rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 and 1-Gig (downstream) broadband speeds to an additional 14 million homes in cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas and Milwaukee.

The additions extend the reach of Charter’s D3.1 rollout and Spectrum Internet Gig service to about 23 million homes.

Charter plans to offer gigabit service to virtually all of its full 41-state footprint by the end of 2018.

Charter first introduced Spectrum Internet Gig to customers in Oahu, then added Austin, Texas; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Honolulu; Kansas City, Mo; New York City; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and San Antonio by the end of 2017.

RELATED: Charter Rolls DOCSIS 3.1 to Seven More Markets

In that early phase of the launch, Charter has been offering the new data cap-free offering, which pairs a downstream that maxes at 1 Gbps with an upstream up to 35 Mbps, for $104.99 per month to new customers. In markets such as Oahu, Charter has been offering it to existing customers with TV service for $114.99 per month, and $124.99 per month without the TV service bundle.

In D3.1-enabled markets, Charter has also been doubling its minimum downstream internet speeds (to 100 Mbps or 200 Mbps, depending on the market) at no added cost.

Charter ended 2017 with 49.82 million internet homes passed, and 22.54 million residential high-speed internet customers. Charter is scheduled to release Q1 2018 results on Friday morning (April 27).

“Spectrum’s state-of-the-art, fiber-rich network allows us to deploy dramatically faster broadband speeds, including gigabit connections, broadly and rapidly,” Tom Rutledge, Charter’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “As consumer demands for bandwidth and capacity grow, our world-class network is best-positioned to meet these demands, today and into the future.”

Charter also released this video about its deployment:

Stocks in the pay TV sector have been taking a beating for the past three months, with the bruising especially harsh on the two newest issues in the industry: Altice USA and WideOpenWest.

Overall, pay TV distribution stocks were down about 5.4% in the first three months of the year, with WOW (down 32%), Comcast (down 16.9%) and Altice USA (down 14.3%) the biggest losers.

Comcast’s decline is relatively simple to read: Investors are interpreting its Feb. 27 $31 billion bid for U.K. satellite company Sky as proof the top U.S. cable provider is losing faith in the domestic cable business.

Comcast has reiterated its confidence in domestic cable, saying it still sees growth in the video business and that chairman and CEO Brian Roberts sees broadband as the “epicenter” of the company. As of press time, Comcast still hadn’t even made a formal offer for Sky. But still the concern spreads, with the declining state of the traditional pay TV industry, the emergence of cheaper OTT players and the uncertainty of the deal market all playing roles in the overall malaise.

Parallels With Disney Bid

MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett opined in a note to clients that the decline in Comcast’s stock price could persuade it to back off from a Sky bid, comparing the offer to its abandoned takeover attempt of The Walt Disney Co. in 2004. Comcast dropped the Disney play after about 10 weeks, when its shares fell to a point where the all-stock deal simply became too expensive.

While the Sky bid is all-cash, the pressure remains, Moffett noted.

Pivotal Research Group CEO and senior media & communications analyst Jeff Wlodarczak sees fear that the emergence of high-bandwidth 5G wireless products could be stiff competition for broadband and that operators will get overly aggressive with their wireless offerings as another factor in the decline.

Broadband growth has been slowing down. Comcast added 1.2 million high-speed data customers in 2017, down from 1.4 million in 2016, and Charter added 1.2 million residential data customers in 2017, down from 1.5 million in the prior year. Comcast launched Xfinity Mobile last year, part of a wholesale pact with Verizon, and Charter is expected to follow suit later this year.

“Investors are quite nervous about the 5G ‘boogeyman’ blowing up cable data which I view as dramatically overdone,” Wlodarczak said.

Charter stock is down 8.8% for the year and has dropped about 20% in the past month (when it traded as high as $387.50) amid rising and falling deal speculation, as well as the data concerns. Data was supposed to be the main catalyst for WideOpenWest, which began to de-emphasize its video business about a year prior to going public.

WideOpenWest, the Denver-based overbuilder, launched its initial public offering in May, the first new issue in the pay TV sector since 2015, when Graham Holdings spun off its cable unit, Cable One. WOW has had a sketchy 10 months as a public company. Its debut came quietly on May 25 at $17 per share, short of the $20-$22 per share target the company had originally hoped for. Other than a slight run-up on its first week of trading — it hit $18.31 per share on May 31 — the stock has been on a downward slide ever since.

WOW also has undergone a few significant changes in the past three months. Former AT&T Broadband (West) chief Teresa Elder was named CEO in December, after the retirement of former CEO Steve Cochran; the company completed the sale of a portion of its Chicago fiber network to Verizon Communications for $225 million and in March issued guidance that predicted 2018 revenue would range between $1.15 and $1.17 billion (compared to $1.174 billion in 2017) and adjusted EBITDA would be between $410 and $420 million (down from $437.1 million in 2017).

Evercore ISI analyst James Ratcliffe said in a note to clients that while the guidance was below his expectations, he still sees potential upside in WOW stock. But he believes investors will have to have patience.

“[W]e doubt that we’ll see evidence that the company’s investments are bearing fruit until well into 2H18, leaving little in the way of near-term catalysts for the shares,” Ratcliffe wrote. “As a result, we retain our Outperform rating, but would only recommend WOW shares for investors with a time horizon of at least six to 12 months.”

Wlodarczak was less sanguine about WOW’s prospects. “I have a lot of skepticism toward the overbuilder model,” he said.

Leverage Weighs on Altice USA

Altice USA, spun off from European telecom company Altice N.V. in June, has fallen 14% this year, weighed down by heavy leverage at the parent company and uncertainty about sustaining double-digit cash flow growth momentum.

Altice USA has addressed the leverage problem with plans to separate fully from the European parent by the end of the second quarter. That should remove any concern that it would be liable for Altice N.V.’s debt load. The separation also will remove some complexity and increase the number of shares available to the public — the “float” — from about 10% of outstanding shares currently to around 40%.

“A larger float opens up the stock to more investors, eliminates the overhang of certain investors shorting the U.S. business against the parent and sets [Altice USA] up to also return capital via aggressive share repurchase activity,” Wlodarczak said in a client note.

Wlodarczak added that Altice USA is the most levered play in the sector, so when other stocks like Charter and Comcast start to see multiple compression, Altice gets hit even harder. He believes the June separation will solve many of the leverage issues, but there is still the task of persuading investors all is well.

“It will take time to convince investors that the U.S. is a much different market than France,” he said.

For the first time, the lights of Broadway will shine on The Cable Center’s newest Cable Hall of Fame class.

Five executives and a groundbreaking television show — AMC’s drug-dealer drama Breaking Bad — will share the stage of New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on Wednesday, April 4, for the 2018 Cable Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Lending more star wattage to the festivities will be host Carla Hall, a popular cooking personality from ABC’s The Chew and Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef America.

Among the industry figures set to be enshrined are Nomi Bergman, president, Advance/Newhouse; John Bickham, president and chief operating officer, Charter Communications; Balan Nair, president and CEO, Liberty Latin America; Richard Plepler, chairman and CEO, HBO; and Neil Smit, vice chairman, Comcast Corp.

June Travis, a former NCTA executive, will also be presented with the group’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award. Breaking Bad creator, head writer and executive producer Vince Gilligan will accept Hall of Fame honors on the AMC show’s behalf.

Nomi Bergman
President, Advance/Newhouse

Second-generation cable executive Nomi Bergman didn’t intend to get into the family business. After graduating from the University of Rochester with a degree in statistics and economics, Bergman went to work as a systems consultant in Arthur Andersen & Co.’s consulting division. Bergman’s father, Robert Miron, ran the Newhouse cable companies, and a cousin at parent company Advance/Newhouse encouraged her to join the larger organization’s internal consulting group. As an analyst with Advance/Newhouse, Bergman worked on instituting best practices and operating efficiencies among the company’s publications and cable divisions.

In the late 1980s, her group installed new accounting systems at company properties. Noticing that the various cable operations used a variety of billing systems, she recommended integrating them. She took charge of what would be a two-year project involving 50 system conversions. She became a cable nomad, setting up camp in each Newhouse location to oversee successive rollouts. The odyssey was an immersion in MSO field operations that convinced Bergman to make her professional home in cable at Advance/Newhouse. (The company formed a partnership with Time Warner Cable in 1995.)

Bergman adapted quickly to the architecture side of the cable business. Among her most satisfying achievements was being part of the launch of RoadRunner, Time Warner’s broadband internet service. “Being a part of reinventing the purpose of a cable system … re-architecting service delivery, growing the team, was beyond exciting,” she said.

Bergman helped launch sixth-ranked MSO Bright House Networks in 2003 and served as the company’s president from 2007-16. Today, as senior executive officer with Advance/Newhouse companies, she focuses on corporate development and strategic partnerships.

The busy executive and mother of three daughters has been a force in a number of cable and community support organizations, and she remains actively involved with several. Her work on the board of Adaptive Spirit grew out of a mother-daughter activity that became an annual tradition. “Watching [U.S. Paralympic Ski Team members] embrace their disabilities as their star qualities and become exceptional athletes is incredibly inspiring,” Bergman said. “It’s a powerful metaphor for us all — about how to live our lives and be our best selves.”

She believes in the value of kindness in all aspects of life. “People trust kind and caring leaders,” she said, and feels these qualities helped her to cultivate dedicated fearless, and knowledgeable teams who felt empowered to win.

John Bickham
President and Chief Operating Officer, Charter Communications

John Bickham’s career has taken him from the utility industry in Texas to the cable C-suite in Connecticut. Born in Corpus Christi, he graduated from Texas A&I — now part of the Texas A&M system — but had no idea where he would go from there. He landed at utility holding company Houston Industries, where he helped design and build coal-fired generating stations. In 13 years with the company, he was involved in utility regulation at the national and state levels. In the mid-1980s, the holding company became interested in cable and went into partnership with ATC. Bickham’s accidental entry into the cable business was the start of a long, successful career.

Compared to the staid world of utilities, Bickham found cable “an immature business, unsophisticated from a business planning and construction standpoint. It was different, it was fun, and you were a lot closer to the cash register.” Thirty years ago, “who knew the business was going to be what it is today? Today … we sell services that every home and business needs.” In 1986, he co-founded KBLCOM, a cable company that partnered with ATC and owned cable systems in eight states. He left as president and chief operating officer of KBLCOM to operate Time Warner Cable’s Los Angeles division, and advanced to executive vice president of TWC, overseeing the company’s operations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

Bickham moved to Cablevision Systems in 2004 as president of cable and communications. He joined Charter as COO in 2012 and added president to his title in 2016 when the company’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks closed. In the cable industry, local operations continue while the owners change; at Charter, Bickham has gotten reacquainted with cable systems that he previously led at KBLCOM.

The father of two grown daughters, Bickham enjoys spending time with his four-year-old grandson. And he travels the world in pursuit of game birds — to England, Spain and South America, as well as in the U.S.

Bickham advises the industry’s future leaders to take every opportunity to learn the different aspects of the business, especially as companies grow and jobs become more tightly focused. “Don’t limit yourself,” he urged. “Don’t ever get bored with what you’re doing. Move around in your company; experience different things.”

Breaking Bad
Television Drama Series, AMC, Vince Gilligan, creator

Only on cable could a series that starts with a cancer diagnosis and continues into the darkest corners of the methamphetamine industry find a home. Breaking Bad broke new ground in television drama and demonstrated the possibilities of innovative storytelling.

The series premiered on AMC in 2008 and ended in 2013. It tells the story of Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher who, with two years left to live and a desire to secure his family’s financial security, becomes a powerful meth manufacturer.

Series creator Vince Gilligan envisioned an approach that had never been tried in series television: a “show about change” that began with a definite end point in view. Gilligan is a TV fan who streams shows from the 1950s and ‘60s and observed, “The thing TV has done very well is tell an indefinite story — a story that can go on for 20 years [a la Gunsmoke or NCIS]. And the way to do that, from a writer’s point of view, is not to put the characters through too many personal changes … I figured stasis had been tried with great success for 50 years, and something more dynamic in terms of character would be interesting. But that meant it couldn’t last indefinitely.” Gilligan was well aware that the concept of a finite series would be difficult to sell. “That’s why I’m still amazed that Sony and AMC signed on. … You don’t want to be told from the get-go, ‘This thing probably won’t last long enough for you to make your money back.’ ”

Not only does Walter White change, but unlike other TV heroes or anti-heroes, he changes for the worse, as the series title suggests. Legend has it that Gilligan pitched his idea to AMC as “turning Mr. Chips into Scarface.” Another unusual approach: in the moral universe of Breaking Bad, actions have consequences. Ultimately, characters reap what they sow, and nobody gets away with anything.

Gilligan believes television drama continues to change, and he hopes it will continue to pursue shows designed for more than the same demographic sweet spot. Above all, he wants writers to be bold. “Don’t copy off your neighbor’s exam,” he said. “Don’t pay too much attention to the stories other folks are telling; tell a story that excites you.”

Balan Nair
President and CEO, Liberty Latin America

“My life is 95% luck,” said Balan Nair. “Making the most of opportunities takes a little bit of skill, but to get those opportunities [takes luck]. I’m a very lucky man.” What Nair calls luck, others might see as destiny.

In his 11 years with Liberty Global, Nair has advocated focusing on software as the driver of cable’s evolution and he’s met the challenge of harmonizing products, services, workforce and networks across multiple countries, languages and regulatory environments. Named CEO of Liberty Latin America late last year, he is now focused on high-potential markets in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Nair grew up in Malaysia, coming to the U.S. in 1985 to study electrical engineering at Iowa State University. He met his wife at Iowa State — an event he believes was the greatest stroke of luck in a fortunate life. He began his career working on high-voltage power transmission, and discovered an aptitude for writing software. His wife worked at telephone company USWest in Iowa, and when she was transferred to Minneapolis, he followed and found work at a power research company. When another USWest transfer came up, this time to Denver, Nair switched from power to telco, and joined USWest himself. In more than 12 years with the company and its successor, Qwest Communications International, he rose up the leadership ladder to become chief information officer and chief technology officer.

With extensive telco experience under his belt, Nair decided to move on to the fast-growing internet world. He joined AOL as chief technology officer, overseeing technology, IT and network operations. The Nairs left Denver for AOL headquarters in Washington, D.C. Given his experience, Nair was well-positioned for an industry that saw its future in both areas. Liberty Global came calling in 2007, and the family happily returned to Denver.

As a cable industry newcomer, Nair saw a huge opportunity. He “immediately saw the advantage cable had over any other telecommunications business. We had better networks, better platforms and we were better suited for the transition to a software world. We also have a perpetual entrepreneurial spirit. The founding members [of the industry] are still involved, and our second-generation managers were trained by founders. That is very special.”

Richard Plepler
Chairman and CEO, HBO

It’s safe to assume that Richard Plepler is the only high-ranking cable executive whose entry into the industry came about through a chance meeting with a U.N. ambassador at a Chinese restaurant. To start at the beginning: Plepler grew up in the ’60s in a politically active home where engaged, informed citizenship was paramount. “At the dinner table, you had to have read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and you had to be prepared to talk about the world,” he recalled.

After graduating from Franklin & Marshall College, he went to work for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). From Dodd, he learned about building consensus and the notion that people can disagree without being disagreeable. “I think that informed the way I began to think about business, and I think it informs my leadership style,” Plepler said.

Plepler next went on to work for a small media-consulting firm that specialized in crisis management. After a year, brimming with confidence at 26, he started his own strategy and production firm, RLP International, which would make films to help countries that wanted to improve their images. Cheerfully acknowledging his own youthful hubris, Plepler is quick to point out that he was RLP International’s sole employee.

His big break came at a Chinese restaurant in New York in 1988, where then-Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Benjamin Netanyahu happened to be dining. “I went over to introduce myself, and I said, ‘You have a huge problem in the U.S.’ The first intifada had broken out, and Israel was being viewed negatively. I told Netanyahu, ‘This needs to be put in a larger context, sir, and my company, RLP International, knows how to do that.’ And by some miracle, he said, ‘Come see me.’ ” The result of their subsequent meeting was a well-received documentary for PBS that explained the complexity of Israel’s situation. A call from HBO’s Michael Fuchs soon followed, inviting Plepler to join the network in 1992 as communications chief.

“From my first day [at HBO], I always felt like I was where I belonged,” Plepler said. “The people I’ve observed who have done the best feel they’re in the environment where they’re meant to be. Be in the place where you feel passionate about the work, about the mission.”

Neil Smit
Vice Chairman, Comcast Corp.

Growing up on a farm in Connecticut, Neil Smit didn’t have a clear idea of what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he knew what he didn’t want to do. Farming was at the top of that list; construction was second. “My father was in construction, and I didn’t necessarily want to be the second generation in the construction business,” he said. “I wanted to carve my own path.” He entertained notions of becoming an astronaut, but after graduating from Duke University, he ended up on sea, air and land as a member of the legendary Navy SEALs.

From his five-and-a-half years as a SEAL, Smit learned important lessons that he applied to his subsequent business career. “The first thing you learn in SEAL teams is, it’s all about teams,” he said. “If you’re not pulling together, you’re pulling apart, and you do everything together as a team. The other thing is that you communicate very directly from day one. And finally, you’re always developing your skills, your people, and you have to keep building new capabilities. More than anything, it’s about the teamwork.”

When Smit retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander, he worked in hostage negotiations before moving into the corporate world. He held leadership roles at Nabisco and Pillsbury, and then moved to AOL and MapQuest. Along the way, he got to know Paul Allen, who invited him to join Charter Communications as CEO in 2005. Cable appealed to him. “The day-to-day diversity of things that we had to deal with was interesting,” he recalled. “We were in the internet business, the phone business, the video business, and it was an ever-changing environment.” Another plus: “The quality of the people was very high; there’s still an entrepreneurial spirit in the industry,” he said.

Smit joined Comcast Cable as president and CEO in 2010. He now serves as a vice chairman of Comcast Corp., working to develop future technology- oriented business opportunities. Active in his community, he recently left the board of trustees of Philadelphia Children’s Hospital, and continues his work with the board of visitors for the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. And his adventurous spirit remains strong. He enjoys boating, water sports and skiing, and recently took up ice driving with his son in northern Canada. “I’ll try about anything,” he said.

Bresnan Award Recipient

June E. Travis

June Travis retired from the cable television industry in late 1999. Since 1994, she had served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the National Cable Television Association, the industry’s principal trade association based in Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining the NCTA, Travis was president and chief operating officer of Rifkin & Associates, a Denver-based cable television operator. Before that, she served in several executive positions at American Television and Communications, the predecessor to Time Warner Cable.

Recalling the days when cable was a much smaller business, Travis said the industry’s ethical core was apparent in the relationships between its leaders. The early entrepreneurs “were very competitive with one another, but if attacked from the outside, they circled the wagons and supported one another. The collegiality was palpable.”

Starting her cable career as a secretary, Travis noted the admirable leadership qualities she saw practiced by industry role models. “I kept thinking, ‘Gee, if I ever get into management, that’s how I would like to manage, that’s how I would like to be involved in the community, that’s how I would like to give back.’ ”

Travis has served as an officer and board member of a number of cable television industry boards, including CommScope, NCTA (now NCTA: The Internet & Television Association), C-SPAN, Cable in the Classroom, TeleCorps and Women in Cable (now Women in Cable Telecommunications). She chaired the industry’s political action committee, CablePAC, for nine years. She said such organizations made a tremendous difference to the industry’s employees.

She has been active in a number of Colorado organizations including the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Colorado Forum, the Colorado Women’s Forum, the National Jewish Center, Inter-Faith Community Services, Young Americans Center for Financial Education and the Dumb Friends League. She recently stepped down as chairman of the board of the Daniels Fund but remains on that board and also serves as a trustee for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Travis believes in business leaders’ responsibility to their communities. “It’s huge,” she said. “And it pays back a hundred-fold. If you are genuinely in the community, not for the recognition, but truly caring, and participating, and supporting the community, you can’t buy that kind of customer respect.”

Cable operators appear poised for a strong third quarter on the heels of Comcast’s stronger-than-expected results, with satellite TV continuing to slide.

Comcast outpaced most analysts’ expectations by adding 32,000 basic video subscribers in the third quarter — its best Q3 showing in a decade and well above consensus estimates of about 1,000 customer additions.

The performance helped to solidify what many analysts who follow the sector have been saying for a while: Cable is king, for now.

Comcast’s performance in light of a declining overall pay TV customer base shows cable is taking back market share. According to MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett, that performance was largely driven by the success of its X1 platform — now available in 45% of its footprint — and continued strength in broadband. Comcast added 330,000 broadband customers in the third quarter, its best Q3 performance in eight years.

CHARTER, ALTICE ON DECK

While other operators aren’t expected to fare quite as well, they are expected to show improvement on both the video and broadband front.

Charter Communications and Altice USA, parent of the former Cablevision Systems and Suddenlink Communications, are expected to release their Q3 results on Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, respectively, the latter as part of Altice N.V.

Analysts generally expect marginal video-subscriber losses for Charter — ranging from about 20,000 to 30,000 customers — but with momentum building later in the year.

The same holds true for Altice USA. Pivotal Research Group CEO and senior media & communications analyst Jeff Wlodarczak expects strong cash-flow growth from the U.S. cable unit, fueled by cost efficiencies, a $5-per-month price hike for data service at Suddenlink and continued cost-cutting by the Optimum (formerly Cablevision) operations.

Wlodarczak estimated that revenue-generating units, a combination of voice, data and video customers, will decline by 25,000 for Suddenlink and by about 30,000 for Optimum.

At Charter, Morgan Stanley media analyst Ben Swinburne expects more churn as customers roll off of legacy TWC promotional pricing, leading to a loss of about 34,000 video customers in Q3.

Charter will add about 390,000 broadband customers in the quarter, well above the prior period gain of 236,000 subscribers.

Charter continues to integrate Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks operations — the deal closed in May — and Swinburne believes that after a slight early hiccup, a strong growth trajectory should continue. “We continue to believe Charter shares offer investors a rare levered equity growth story, particularly given the visibility into that growth and capital allocation for a company of its size,” he wrote.

Swinburne said recent results — in the second quarter, video losses improved to 152,000 from 170,000 in the year-earlier period, and revenue and cash flow grew by 6.6% and 9%, respectively — reaffirms his view that Charter “can successfully implement the strategy it has proven out over the last four years on its now-larger footprint.”

Overall, cable should have a good quarter on the subscriber front. Swinburne estimated that MSOs should collectively lose about 20,000 video subscribers, amended from the 52,000 he predicted earlier when he believed Comcast would lose 8,000 customers in Q3.

If cable is to be the king for the period, though, Telsey Advisory Group media analyst Tom Eagan pegs Dish Network as a pauper.

DOWN ON DISH NETWORK

Dish is coming off a string of subscriber losses — it shed 28,000 in the first quarter and 281,000 in Q2 — and the third quarter is expected to be no different. Eagan expects Dish to shed about 125,000 customers in the third quarter, ending the period with 13.3 million subscribers.

“Dish’s business model is proving increasingly unsustainable,” Eagan wrote in a research note. While cash flow will likely increase 20% for the year, that is due more to easy comparisons with 2015. Even Sling TV, which is expected to end the year with about 700,000 customers, according to Eagan and has been the main focus of the company, could be impacted by AT&T’s over-the-top offering, DirecTV Now. AT&T said it plans to launch DirecTV Now in November at $35 per month for more than 100 channels. Sling TV sells at $20 per month for more than 25 channels.

Swinburne was equally down on Dish’s prospects — he predicted it would lose about 155,000 subscribers in Q3 and estimated it would shed between 650,000 and 660,000 subscribers per year through 2019, partially offset by average annual gains of 240,000 to 245,000 customers for Sling TV.

“We expect these trends to continue over the medium-term, particularly given cable’s investment in its product and the likely launch of new offerings in 4Q16 (DirecTV Now) and 1H17 (Hulu),” Swinburne wrote.  

The Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Southern California Chapter has announced its 2016 LEA Awardwinners, who will be honored at an awards gala on Nov. 10 at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood.

Recipients of the prestigious 2016 LEA Awards include:

• Toby Berlin, president, School of Toby
• Del J. Heintz, senior director, state government affairs, Charter Communications Western Region
• Nadya Ichinomiya, director of IT, Television Marketing, Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Donna Thomas, senior vice president, studio sales, Vubiquity
• Erika Nolting, enterprise client executive, Neudesic, and Board Member of the Year

"WICT SoCal is thrilled to continue the tradition of honoring five outstanding individuals who lead by example and inspire us all,” said LEA Awards co-chair Rachel Richman. "This award is all that much more special because WICT SoCal relies on peers in the industry to submit nominations, and the winners are chosen by a committee comprised of past recipients.  It’s truly peer-driven recognition.”

The WICT SoCal LEA Awards are recognized as one of the most well-respected and prestigious events in the Southern California entertainment industry. The event will feature a celebrity Master of Ceremonies, keynote remarks from an industry leader and speeches by each award recipient. WICT SoCal said it expects to draw several hundred cable, programming and technology innovators who will converge to celebrate the recipients for what they have accomplished in their careers and the work they do to support, advocate and develop women leaders in media.

"In the often challenging and ever-changing entertainment industry, WICT is very proud to continue to recognize individuals that stand out and make us all proud to be in this business," said Helene Juceam,president of WICT SoCal.

Fox Networks, Charter Communications and Discovery are the event sponsors. Additional information, including sponsorship availability, can be found at www.socalwict.org. To buy tickets for the 2016 LEA Awards, visit http://leaawards2016rsvp.com.

With 10,000 members nationally, WICT is the oldest and largest professional association serving women in the cable and telecommunications industry.

NEW YORK — Before Liberty Global’s investor day meeting earlier this month, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable editorial director Mark Robichaux sat down with chairman John Malone to ask him about the state of the cable industry. Later that day, before a crowd of investors and Wall Street analysts, Malone would unveil a set of complex tracking stocks to follow the far-flung tentacles of his media companies here and afar. The conversation digressed, frequently, and in his classic Socratic style, Malone — who spoke more like a business professor than a global media chairman — ended up asking more questions than he answered. Still a big cheerleader for Charter Communications, Malone shared his opinion on buying versus partnering, his dim view about the go-it-alone over-the-top cable network business model, and the beauty of a scalable business serving billions of people in Asia.

MCN:This last quarter seemed to better than most in terms of subscriber retention for cable operators. Do you think it’s sustainable?

John Malone: The industry is doing better. I mean, I don’t have the inside look at anything other than Charter in terms of U.S. cable. But I would say in Charter’s case, absolutely it’s sustainable. They are delivering a value package to consumers.

If you think about it, it’s all-digital, it’s all high-definition on the video side, it’s higher-speed Internet and it’s simple. There’s a package. And the public seems to like that.

If [customers] have to contact the company, the company’s CSRs are here in the U.S.; they are well trained and the services are straightforward. So, if you can make the relationship with the customer painless and give them a lot of value, I think that’s Tom’s [Charter CEO Tom Rutledge] whole approach.

MCN:A lot of those gains for cable seem to be coming from telephone and satellite companies.

JM: I think that it’s just a better service. Very simple: You give the consumer a better service. You should gain share if you’re better than your competitor. There is no mystery to it.

What Tom’s secret, I think is, is demanding simplicity, consistency. And in his view, you give the consumer value. You look at what you’ve got to give them and you try and give them a package that conveys the most value for the least dollars. And that’s what you train your people to deliver.

And if you can do that consistently, you win. Now the big capital commitment that Charter made — people forget about this — was going all-digital. This is not something you can do overnight, it’s not something that will happen in Time Warner [Cable systems that Charter is acquiring] overnight.

But once you get people into that platform to where your program guide can be in the cloud and the quality of your television picture is very consistent and it’s all high-def, you can do everything easier.

MCN:Will cable operators continue to take more share from telco and satellite competitors?

JM: If your network is reliable and your pictures are consistent — it’s Cable Operating 101. And if you do it really well, better than the other guy, you’re going to gain share and you’re going to grow. Now having watched Tom and his team, that’s what they do. It’s not rocket science, it’s discipline.

Incidentally, I saw Chase Carey do exactly that with DirecTV when he went there. It was just blocking and tackling. Let’s get rid of these contract installers. Let’s have our own people, let’s train them well and let’s hold them accountable. The guy who delivers the goods gains share and grows, and I think that it’s just as simple as that.

MCN:Many in the industry are obsessed with “cord-cutters” and over-the-top video delivery. What’s your take?

JM: OTT will continue to grow and succeed and be experimented with. And in some cases, the services will be supplemental to some other package. In some cases and in some households, it’ll be replacement. And the bottom line is connectivity is here to stay, both stationary and mobile. The question really is, who can provide it in the best way?

There are always going to be content aggregators, in my mind, because there’s no one entity that has enough stuff. The public’s not gonna want to have 27 subscription services and 27 different bills. So is the NFL big enough to go stand-alone subscription? Yeah, maybe — maybe. But the distribution curve looks like this. [Draws a big hump in the air with his finger.] Demand — there is a lot of demand right here, that’s the sweet spot, but can you walk away from this revenue and this revenue? Right?

Here, I’m talking about the distribution of demand at various price levels. So I mean when everybody talks how about ESPN would do great as a standalone service, well, they get about 20% reach at $10, or whatever it is, and they wouldn’t have a business. That’s why they don’t unbundle. Now, if you took all the Disney content and you could create an over-the-top with the network … you might be big enough to have something that might reach 70% penetration of households with an affiliate fee that, therefore, could be low enough.

This is what Apple is struggling with right now. Can they find enough stuff — cheap enough but good enough — that they can offer a service that’s better than the cable bundle, right?

MCN:Can they?

JM: Well, I don’t know. The jury is out. But … what they think they bring to the table is a superior consumer interface. And the question is, can they then populate that consumer interface with enough content that they can deliver their own version of cable TV in a sort of an over-the-top way and get enough scale to drive their hardware and their software? In other words, can they bring the TV set into the Apple ecosystem?

Now you could say, “Well if [Comcast chairman and CEO] Brian [Roberts] or Time Warner had said to [Apple CEO] Tim Cook, ‘We would love to endorse and embrace your set-top or device and ecosystem, and we think that adds enough value to our services and to our customers that this can be an industrial product’ — then Tim probably wouldn’t be out trying to put together his own cable service.” But nobody wanted to put an Apple device between their network and the consumer.

MCN:Don’t you think that’s justified? Why bring in a middleman — X1 is doing just fine.

JM: That’s a business decision. See, if I was a little guy, I would say, “Come help me figure this out, ’cause I can’t do it and there’s nobody doing it for me.” Right?

But if you’re Brian, you’ve got 3,000 engineers working on this; you say, “Who the hell needs Apple, we have a better mousetrap and why would we put them into our food chain?”

Now Brian thinks he can do it himself; he’s trying very hard. [Liberty Global CEO] Mike Fries believes he can do it himself.

We’re working, by the way, with Comcast on common technology. Cox makes a decision to use X1. Let’s piggyback on all of this technology investment that Brian is making. Let’s not let Apple in, let’s let Brian in. We trust Brian more …

MCN:It’s the devil you know.

JM: Yeah, it’s the devil we know.

MCN:What’s your vision for Lionsgate? [Liberty Global and Discovery Communications acquired 3.4% stakes in the company earlier this month.]

JM: I’m just a director in Lionsgate. Lionsgate has these great production capabilities in both theatrical and video, television. The idea is, by working together, can we create more value for Lionsgate content by making it more global? From Discovery’s point of view, can Lionsgate help them up the game in scripted with a certain amount of scripted content to essentially improve the quality perception of Discovery programming? Is there a nexus there?

From an LGI [Liberty Global] point of view, can working with Lionsgate help LGI with the equivalent of their X1 VOD service? I mean LGI is on the same page that Brian is. We want to have a massive random-access VOD offering that is just part of our service so that when you sign up for — call it the big bundle — you get everything: TV everywhere, all platforms, all systems, all you can eat, whenever you want it, everywhere you want it. And we think, to a large degree, that will reduce the demand for some of these narrow over-the-top services. Not entirely but, you know …

MCN:What’s your opinion of Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer?

JM: Everybody speaks well of him. I think they are a very good organization. They are an independent production business, and they want to stay independent. If I’m in an area that I don’t know, I always go to people who I think do know. So I call [IAC chairman and longtime media executive Barry] Diller up and I say, “What do you think of these guys?” and he said, “They are absolutely as good as it gets.” So that’s a big endorsement.

MCN:Outside of Comcast and NBCUniversal, not that many people still combine distribution and content. Is there anything to these theories of content is king or distribution is queen or …

JM: It’s whatever works. It is certainly working for Comcast at this point. Steve Burke has done a great job.

MCN:Are you leaning in that direction now, marrying distribution and content?

JM: Well no. I’m just an investor. If Mike [Fries] wanted to go vertical, what he has done is he’s gone out and made a few investments — like this Lionsgate one — testing the water, seeing if there’s a “there” there. He’s a 9.9% shareholder of ITV, for instance. He did All-3 Media with Discovery to start testing the waters, let’s call it. Now he’s got this small stake with me and with [Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav] and Lionsgate.

This is what I call the very early stages of trying to explore the synergies of working together; not necessarily that you’ve got to own it, but if you understand what they’ve got and what they’re trying to achieve, and you understand what you’ve got and what you’re trying to achieve, maybe somewhere there is a pony in there by working together.

There’s a lot of common interests that you can create value in by working together, not necessarily combining but just understanding other industry perspectives. And you know, if you ask me what I try to do, I try to be a synthesizer of these kinds of things, of trying to understand what fits with what. You’re always trying to say, “Gee, could you create something interesting, unique or more valuable that you could do this over here and this over here?”

And you take shots. I have always had a theory that if a cable company could own a broadcast enterprise in its market, that could be an important synergy for advertising, promotion,to give you access to content that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

Does it lead anywhere? I don’t know. We just bought Channel 3 in Ireland, the No. 1 Irish-based TV station. And we’ll see. We bought a 50% interest in a Belgian TV station.

Of course, Discovery went out and bought SBS, which is the No. 1 or the No. 2 broadcaster in Scandinavia. It has really worked well for Discovery. The question is, does it work well for a distributor to do that?

MCN:Do you think there’s more opportunity abroad than there is in the U.S. in terms of broadband and cable?

JM: There is more growth-potential opportunity internationally. It’s not necessarily financially that easy. I mean, some of these markets are very, very tricky. You have political, economic and regulatory issues.

Some of these, like China, remain intriguing but I haven’t met anybody yet that made a lot of money in China and got it out. So hope springs eternal. The Asian markets are still pretty tough. If you get it right, anything divided by 3 billion households makes your cost per household look pretty low.

I mean, this is the secret of Facebook. This is why the Internet entrepreneurs, with global standards and global reach, can go from nothing to huge overnight, ‘cause they’re dealing with another couple of zeros.

So if [Facebook founder and CEO] Mark Zuckerberg has 1 billion average daily users, just think about that. No wonder these guys are seeing their market caps go through the roof. That’s something to understand and emulate and try and copy if you can.

MCN:How do you see the U.S. market consolidating?

JM: You have some free radicals floating around on the content side that you could still see aggregation taking place that would have a lot of synergy. And I mean, some of it’s driven by ego, but most of it’s driven by synergy.