Cable stocks fell hard for the second time in three days, this time after Verizon Communications introduced a new pricing plan that offers its Fios broadband service for just $25 per month when coupled with its 5G wireless product. 

To some analysts, the new Verizon plan isn’t as much a ploy to gain Fios broadband customers as it appears to be a move to beat back competition from cable broadband, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett said in an email message. But he fears the price drop — less than half the $50 to $60 per month cable operators charge for broadband — will be bad news for all involved.

“It’s bad for everyone, most obviously Altice, but it’s also a bad sign for Verizon itself,” Moffett said of the Fios price drop in an email message. “I suspect it’s not so much to sell more Fios — Fios is doing fine — but instead to try to protect against wireless losses versus the cable bundle. It’s bad for cable because Verizon had been talking about RAISING Fios pricing as recently as May, but it’s also probably a sign that their wireless business is just continuing to get worse … and worse … and worse.”

Investors suspected the same. While Verizon was relatively flat — it closed at $48.34 each, down less than 1%, cable stocks fell hard on Thursday. Altice USA, the cable company with the most exposure to Fios, dropped the most: Its shares traded as low as $7.58 (down 17.6%, or $1.62 each) on Thursday, a new 52-week low, before rallying slightly to close at $7.88 per share, down 14.4%.

Other cable stocks weren’t hit as hard, but a combination of market forces — the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Thursday down 740 points — and continued fears of a broadband slowdown put pressure on shares. Charter Communications finished the day at $415.35, down 7.5%, while Cable One closed at $1,171.52, down 5.6% and Comcast closed Thursday at $37.91, down 5.5% each. 

Cable wireless has been gaining steady ground over the past several quarters, with Comcast and Charter combining for more than 7 million customers. Altice USA has had less luck on the wireless side — Optimum Mobile added just 12,000 customers in Q1 and has a total of 198,000 subscribers as of March 31. But the company has been aggressive with discounts. It began offering unlimited data at $30 per line recently and has offered steep discounts on phones, and is in the midst of a massive rebranding effort.  

Also: Bears Take a Bite Out of Cable Stocks, Too 

There is little doubt that Verizon is going after cable companies with its newest wireless plan. According to the plan, new customers would get Verizon’s entry-level Fios 300 Megabit per second home service, basic 5G Home and LTE Home service, but only if they also subscribe to one of three ultimate mobile plans — 5G Play More, 5G Do More or 5G Get More mobile plans — which cost about $50 per month. 

“At a time when the cost of almost everything seems to be going up, Verizon is offering home internet at a price you'll love,” the company said in a press release. “With this new offering, the price is the price, guaranteed. So, ditch cable and switch to Verizon Home Internet with absolutely no regrets.”

While Verizon is urging consumers to ditch cable, it looks like the slowdown in broadband subscribers could start to pick up some speed in Q2. 

Also: Has Cable Broadband Hit the Wall? 

Charter chief financial officer Jessica Fischer, speaking Wednesday at the Credit Suisse Communications conference, said that a “small portion” of customers that had been part of the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit program have not made the transition to its Affordable Connectivity Program. 

The EBB was launched last May, a $3.2 billion program established by Congress as part of a larger COVID-19 aid package. The EBB offered eligible households a subsidy of up to $50 per month ($75 per month on tribal lands) for broadband service and a one-time award of up to $100 for a computer or tablet. 

The ACP was launched in January, part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure package, offering a subsidy of up to $30 per month ($75 on tribal lands) for broadband service and $100 toward purchase of a laptop, desktop or tablet computer.  

But according to Fischer, not as many EBB customers made the transition to ACP, either because they failed to opt in to continue service or didn’t meet qualifications, particularly the one that required them to use the service each month. As a result, Fischer said that between 60,000 and 70,000 former EBB customers will be removed from Charter's subscriber rolls.

Fischer said Charter still expects to add broadband customers in Q2, even with fewer EBB customers, and that the outlook is that broadband is “absolutely still a growth business.”

Whether other cable companies will see the same effect from the ACP transition remains to be seen. But it is yet another uncertainty in what has been a year of uncertainties for the sector. ■ 

Cable stocks took it on the chin on Monday (June 13), as the S&P 500 fell into bear-market territory after investors opted to minimize risk as fears of the possibility of higher interest rates and other money-tightening measures came closer to reality.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 — which includes cable stocks like Charter Communications, Comcast, The Walt Disney Co., Fox Corp. and Paramount Global — dipped 3.9% on June 13, as inflationary fears spooked the markets. Investors appeared worried the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in a move to slow down the economy after federal data showed consumer prices rose 8.6% year-over-year in May, its quickest increase since 1981.

The decline in the S&P 500 coincided with an 875-point (2.8%) drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 4.7% decline in the NASDAQ Index. The S&P’s Monday falloff brought the benchmark squarely in the bear market realm — down more than 20% since its January high — the first bear market in the U.S. since 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Stocks across the board were hammered, but tech shares were hit particularly hard, with Alphabet, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), Apple and Amazon all falling between 4% and 6% for the day.

Netflix, which has been battling declines after it reported its first ever quarterly subscriber loss in Q1, saw its shares dip by 7.2% to $169.69 each. So far this year, Netflix has shed more than 70% of its value — the stock was priced at $602.44 per share on Dec. 31.

Among the biggest losers in the cable programming sector for the day were Paramount Global (down 8.1%), Warner Bros. Discovery (down 5.6%), and Disney. (down 3.7%). Distributors also were hit hard. Altice USA fell 7.5% to $9.25 per share, while Charter fell 4.2%. Cable One dipped 4.1% and Comcast slipped 3.4% for the day.

Streaming companies like Roku (-11.4%), fuboTV (-9.1%) and others were hit hard as well. Roku, a traditionally volatile stock in its own right, had been slipping in the past few days after a nearly 10% boost on June 8 as rumors swirled that Netflix was planning a takeover of the company. Those gains have been erased.

Telcos AT&T (down 4.5%), Verizon Communications (down 2.4%) and T-Mobile US (down 4.5%) fared better than satellite-TV service provider (and wireless newcomer) Dish Network, which fell 8.9%. Dish is in the middle of finishing out the first phase of its wireless buildout — the network needs to reach 20% of its footprint by the end of June — and launched service in Las Vegas earlier last month. ■  

A day after signs that efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve were beginning to pay off drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 1,600 points, the market ended in slightly negative territory on April 7. But cable stocks, which have been just as volatile as the rest of the market, managed to show signs of growth.

The Dow closed on April 7 down about 26 points, erasing a 930-point surge early in the day. The day before, the index closed up 1,627 points on hopes that efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus were working. 

Those positive signs continued. In New York, one of the hardest hit areas in the U.S., there were indications that hospitalization and death rates were beginning to stabilize. And China had its first day since January with no deaths from COVID-19. But legislators warned that the positive signs meant that efforts to stem the spread of the virus, like sheltering in place, must continue. And there were no signs that would change anytime soon. 

Although some investors were still encouraged by the $2.2 trillion federal stimulus package, others worried about a looming recession, and how long it would last.

Cable stocks, which have generally followed the market through its ups and downs over the past several weeks, were mostly up on Tuesday.

With the exception of programmers ViacomCBS and Discovery -- which were up 5.4% and 5.2% respectively -- the gains were modest.

Cable One led distributors with a 2.6% gain ($42.14 each) for the day to $1,688.30 per share, followed by Comcast, which was up 2% (71 cents) to $36.94 each, and Altice USA, up 1% (24 cents) to $23.44 per share. Charter Communications was down 1.7% ($7.80 each) for the day to $451.75 per share.

Telco stocks fared about as well. AT&T was up 2.2% (64 cents) to $30.08 after announcing a $5.5 billion loan deal to help with its liquidity. Verizon Communications was essentially flat, up 0.5% (28 cents) to $56.94 per share, and Dish Network was down 1.6% (34 cents) to $20.77 each.

Related: AT&T to See More Cord Cutting Amid COVID-19 Recession: Analyst 

On the programming side, ViacomCBS and Discovery led the gainers, and were followed by AMC Networks, up 3.1% (70 cents) to $23.35; and WWE, up 2.4% (85 cents) to $35.95. Disney and Fox were each up 1.7% for the day, closing at $101.24 and $25.49 per share, respectively. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1,600 points Monday, after some data showed the number of COVID-19 cases in parts of the U.S. and Europe were beginning to slow, a sign that perhaps lockdowns in those areas are working.

In the U.S., the death toll in New York City, one of the areas hardest hit, remained fairly steady at just under 600 for two straight days, even as the number of coronavirus cases continued to rise, according to the New York Times. In Italy and Spain, the number of COVID-19 patients is still increasing but the rate of new infections is no longer rising. 

That news appeared to lure investors back to the market. The Dow closed up 1,627 points, with all 30 stocks in the index showing gains. For cable stocks, the increases ranged from a 2.8% rise for WWE, to a 12.3% increase for Fox Corp.

The increases were across the board, but cable stocks still have a long way to go before they regain the increases they handed back to the market this year, as the COVID-19 outbreak drove down the Dow more than 20%.

On the distribution side, Cable One led the charge, rising 7.2% ($109.78 each) to $1,646.16 per share, followed by Comcast (up 6.8%), Charter (up 6%) and Altice USA (up 5.9%).

Dish Network led satellite and telco stocks on Monday, closing at $21.10 each, up 11.2%; while AT&T was up 7.2% and Verizon increased 3.7%.

Programmers were led by Fox Corp., which rose 12.3% ($2.75 per share) to $25.05, with ViacomCBS running a close second, up 12.2% ($1.51 each) to $13.94 per share. Rounding out the sector, AMC Networks closed at $22.65 each, up 10.1%; Discovery was up 7% to $19.64, The Walt Disney Co., gained 6.1% to $99.58 and WWE closed at $35.08, up 2.8%.

Even with Monday’s gains, distribution stocks (minus Cable One) were down 5.8%; and programming companies were down 40%. Telco and satellite stocks were still down a collective 21% for the year. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 3,000 points Monday (March 16) as investors, fearful of the long-term economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, worried that federal recovery efforts won’t be enough to stop another recession.

Stocks fell 13% Monday (after another trading halt at the start of the day) to 20,188.52, down 2,997.1 points (its worst single day since 1987) as investors fretted that moves by the government over the weekend won’t be enough to prevent a worldwide recession. On Sunday, March 15, the Federal Reserve dropped its benchmark interest rate to near 0%, and pledged to purchase $700 billion in government bond debt, moves investors took more as a sign of bad things to come. 

While restaurant and hospitality stocks seemed the hardest hit -- some down nearly 40% Monday -- as Americans were urged not to leave their homes, media stocks, which were supposed to benefit from that restriction, also took it on the chin.

The downturn erased a near 2,000-point gain in the Dow on Friday amid hopes that the federal government would step in to avoid an economic disaster. While the stimulus package was reminiscent of the 2008 federal bailout, that may have been the problem. With such a massive effort underway so soon, some investors may have seen it as a sign that things are only expected to get worse.

That sentiment trickled down to the cable sector, which just days before was expected to benefit as an increasingly home-bound populace would likely spend more time taking advantage of their pay TV subscriptions and watching streaming video. While that may still be the case, investors had other things to worry about.

In a press conference March 16, after admitting the coronavirus pandemic could take at least until July or August to control, President Trump acknowledged the sharp stock market decline, telling reporters that the U.S. “may be” headed into a recession, before adding that he expects a “tremendous surge” once the virus runs its course.

On the pay TV side, Altice USA led the decline for cable stocks, down 23% ($5.02 each) to close March 16 at $17.20 per share. The rest of the sector fared a little better, with Charter Communications down 14.3%, CableOne off by 13.4% and Comcast down 8.4% on Monday. As a whole, the sector was down about 32% since Feb. 13.

Satellite TV giant Dish Network fell 13% ($2.80 each) to $18.79, culminating a month where it lost more than half of its value, when Dish shares were priced at $40.18 each.

AT&T, which expects to launch its HBO Max service in May, fell about 7.7% ($2.66) to $31.81 while its telco counterpart Verizon Communications dipped 6% ($3.18) to $50.99 each.

It continued to be a tough day for programmers. The Walt Disney Co. stock fell 7.3% to $95.01 each while ViacomCBS dipped 17% to $13.61 per share. Discovery fell 10% to $20.63 and Fox Corp. was down 8.2% to $24.01. AMC Networks finished the day up slightly, closing Monday at $28.06 each, an increase of 12 cents per share, or less than 1%. 

The stock market began the long climb out of a coronavirus-inspired hole on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining nearly 2,000 points as investors began to seek out bargains after a nearly unprecedented decline, taking cable stocks along for the ride.

The Dow closed at 23,185.62 points on March 13, a 1,985-point gain, chipping away at a nearly 5,000-point decline in the index between Feb. 13 and March 12. The Dow entered into bear market territory March 11, dropping 1,600 points and ending an 11-year bull run as investors panicked over the potential impact of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The next day the index fell another 2,300 points, its worst day since the 1987 crash. 

But those fears began to ease March 13, especially after President Trump, who had issued a confusing European travel ban March 11 that sent the markets into a tailspin the next day, held a Friday press conference declaring a national emergency which would free up to $50 billion to help Americans fight the virus outbreak. 

That was enough to cause many investors to dive back into the market, and they did so with a vengeance. Cable stocks, hammered over the past few weeks as coronavirus cases mounted, began to rebound March 13.

On the distribution side, Comcast stock, down 24% between Feb. 20 and March 12, rose 12.6% ($4.39) on March 13 to $39.33 per share. Other stocks in the sector that had fallen by double-digits in the past few weeks also started to regain lost ground, with AT&T up 10%, Altice USA rising 7%, Charter up 6.2%, and Cable One gaining 6%.

Dish Network, down more than 50% between Feb. 20 and March 12, gained 8.8% ($1.74 each) on Friday, closing at $21.59 per share. 

On the content side, The Walt Disney Co., which lost 25% of its stock value between Feb. 13 and March 11, regained some of those losses, rising 11.7% on March 13 to close at $102.52 per share. AMC Networks gained 10.3% Friday while other stocks in the sector had more modest gains. Discovery closed at $22.89 each Friday, up 2.7%, while ViacomCBS was up 3% for the day. Fox was essentially flat at $26.15 per share.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its largest single-day point loss on Monday, dropping more than 2,000 points as investor concern over a potential crude oil price war and the global impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic gained momentum, with some cable stocks falling by double-digit percentages.

The Dow fell more than 7% at the open on Monday -- prompting a 15-minute halt to trading -- after Saudi Arabia announced a $6 to $8 per barrel discount for crude oil to customers in Asia, Europe and the U.S. That price reduction triggered fears of an all-out price war and sent investors out of stocks and toward the less risky bond market. At one point, the Dow was down more than 2,100 points to 23,706.07, and see-sawed throughout the day, closing at 23,851.02, down 2,013.76 points, or about 7.8%. Other indexes had a rough day as well, with the S&P 500 losing 7.6% and the NASDAQ Index off by 7.3%.

The Dow neared bear market territory Monday, ironically on the 11-year anniversary of the longest bull market in history.  

The Coronavirus also continued to fuel fears, with the number of cases worldwide rising to 111,000 and the death toll at more than 3,800. In the U.S., at last count the virus has infected about 564 people across the country and killed 22.

This is the third major drop in the index in the past month. The index fell 11% between Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, rebounding to a record single day gain on March 2. But as news of more cases and deaths from the coronavirus continued, the Dow fell into a tailspin. Since Feb. 13, the index has lost about 18% of its value.

Cable stocks were battered along with the rest of the market, with Dish Network taking the biggest hit among distributors, falling 14.7% ($4.28 each) to $24.93 per share, followed by Altice USA, down 12.3% ($3.18 each) to $22.65 per share. The rest of the distribution sector had a rough day, with Cable One down 7.7%; Charter Communications down 6.8%; AT&T down 6.3%; and Comcast down 6.2%. If there was a bright spot in the sector, it was Verizon, which managed to fall only 1.8% ($1.04 each) to close at $55.83 per share on Monday.

Programmers also took it on the chin, with Viacom declining 11.1% to $19.17 each, followed by Disney (down 9.5%), Discovery (down 7%), AMC Networks (down 4.8%.) and Fox (down 4.7%). 

The stock market started the week on a higher note, gaining nearly 1,300 points as investors placed bets that the central banks will help protect economic growth from any pitfalls caused by the coronavirus, dragging cable stocks along for the ride.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday up 1,294 points (5.1%), its largest single day point gain on record, a reversal from the prior two weeks that saw record declines.  While the index still hasn’t fully emerged from the hole it created between Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 when it fell nearly 4,000 points (12%), it was a good start. And cable stocks, which took a clobbering last week along with the rest of the market, started to climb back up.

Comcast led distribution stocks with a 5.2% gain on Monday ($2.09) per share to $42.52 each, followed by Cable One (up 3.3%), Altice USA (up 1.4%) and Charter Communications (up 1%).

Telco AT&T was up 5.6% ($1.96) to $close at $37.18 for the day, which also coincided with the launch of its AT&T TV streaming service. Verizon was up 5.8% to $57.32 and Dish Network was up 2.4% to $34.33 per share.

On the programming side, Fox Corp., which was hammered last week as investors worried about companies with strong ties to Asia (the source of the coronavirus) gained 4.4% ($1.37) to close at $32.11 each. The Walt Disney Co. rose 2% to $119.98 each and Discovery rose 2.7% (70 cents) to $26.40 per share. Viacom was down 1.2% (30 cents) to $24.31, and World Wrestling Entertainment fell 1% to $46.36 to close out the day. 

A day after announcing their long-awaited merger, CBS and Viacom shares plunged more than 8% on Aug. 14 as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank by 800 points, fueled by fears of a global economic crunch.

CBS stock closed at $44.65 each (down $4.05 each, or 8.3%) and Viacom shares were in the same boat, dropping 8.5% ($2.49 per share) to close at $26.72 per share Wednesday.

Overall, the Dow closed at 25,479.42, down 800 points (3%) -- its biggest drop for the year -- after weak German and Chinese economic data sent signals of a possible global slowdown.

Other media stocks showed some weakness. Broadcasters Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting were down 7% and 8.6%, respectively, while cable programmers like Discovery (down 7.1%), The Walt Disney Co. (down 3%), and AMC Networks (down 2.8%), also got nicked.

On the distribution side, Comcast fell 2.5%, Charter Communications was down 1.1%, Cable One dipped 1.13% and Altice USA dipped 1%. On the tech side, Netflix shares fell 4.2%, Amazon was down 3.4%, and Apple and Facebook dipped 3% and 4.6%, respectively.

A day earlier, CBS and Viacom announced their long-awaited merger, which they said would create a broadcast and pay TV powerhouse with more than $28 billion in combined revenue.

While executives at both companies tried hard to tout the benefits of the merger -- like accelerated and expanded direct-to-consumer offerings, and larger retrans and affiliate fees -- some analysts weren’t convinced of the advantages.

In a research note Tuesday, Sanford Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger wrote in a note to clients that the deal has a clear benefit to Viacom -- the addition of CBS strengthens its status in carriage negotiations and gives it a solid direct-to-consumer platform in CBS All Access -- but not much for CBS.

“The fact that Viacom is in serious trouble is NAI's [National Amusements, the largest shareholder of both companies] problem,” Juenger wrote. “It is not CBS's problem. The CBS board seems on path to make it CBS's problem.”

Even other analysts who praised the deal cautioned that it could be a long, tough road.

In a research note Wednesday, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Michael Nathanson wrote that both sides will have to “work extra hard to prove the financial merits of the combination,” adding that the biggest benefit of the deal could be in recapturing the lost economics of the “foolish decision,” to separate the companies more than a decade ago. 

A day after shedding 600 points and after a week of heavy declines, the Dow Jones Industrial Average began clawing back on Friday, with cable stocks rising in the 2% to 7% range.

A favorable jobs report -- the U.S. added 312,000 new jobs in December-- helped lift the market and temper fears about the economy after a string of declines, driving the index to close at 23,433.16, up 746.9 points. The gains come after a 600-point drop Thursday, spurred by Apple reducing its quarterly revenue targets because of sluggish IPhone sales in China.

The Dow, down 8.7% in December -- its worst showing for that month since 1931 -- has had a better go of it in the first week of the New Year, rising 0.5%. In addition to the strong jobs data, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would be patient regarding raising interest rates, which gave added hope to investors.

For media stocks, shares that were battered the most in 2018 seemed to fare the best on Friday. Dish Network, which lost 48% of its value in 2018, but was upgraded to “neutral” Thursday by influential analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson,  had the biggest gain -- up 7.1% to $28.29 per share. Other stocks that slowed in 2018 -- Charter Communications, Liberty Global, and Altice USA -- fared almost as well. Liberty Global, which shed 40% of its value in 2018 was up 6.4% to $22.76 per share and Charter, down 15.2% in 2018 increased 5.4% to $302.88 per share. Altice USA (down 22.2% in 2018) rose 1.7% to $17.41 and Comcast, down 15% in 2018, gained 3.4% on Friday, while Viacom (down 16.6% in 2018) was up nearly 2%.

Rounding out the sector, The Walt Disney Co. closed at $109.61 per share, up 3.1%; CBS finished at $47.71 (up 2.3); Discovery was priced at $26.16 (up 2%) and 21st Century Fox closed at $48.09 each, up 1.3%.

Technology stocks, battered over the past few weeks,  also had a much better showing.

Apple, which lost 10% of its value Thursday, gained some of that back Friday, closing at $148.26 each, up 4.3%. Netflix rose 9.6% to $297.34; Amazon was up 5% to $1,575.20; Google rose 5.3% to $1,069.80 and Facebook was up 4.7% to $137.96 per share. 

Charter Communications shares fell nearly 10% on Friday despite reporting better than expected Q3 results and amid an overall market sell-off that forced the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 400 points in early trading.

Charter shares fell as much as 9.7% ($30.44 each) to $284.37 in early trading Friday. The stock was trading at $291.12 per share, down 7.5% ($23.69 each) by 10:55 a.m. on Oct. 26. At that same time, the Dow was down about 445 points.

The company had reported better than expected Q3 customer results before the market opened, but a miss on cash flow growth – up 3.5% instead of consensus estimates of a 5% rise and a slight miss on revenue, $10.9 billion versus consensus of 10.96 billion – apparently was enough to trigger a sell-off.

In a research note before the market opened, Evercore ISI media analyst Vijay Jayant said he expected Charter to trade flat to down on Friday despite the steady Q3 results, mainly because of comparisons to Comcast, which reported record Q3 high-speed data customer growth Thursday.

The rest of the cable distribution sector was fairly unscathed in the Dow’s descent early Friday – most cable stocks were down between 1% and 2% in early trading. Altice USA, which has yet to report Q3 earnings, was down about 5.8% (96 cents) to $15.42 each at 10:55 a.m. Oct. 26, perhaps in anticipation of further bad news for cable distributors.

Disappointing tech stock earnings triggered the Dow plunge, as Amazon and Google each reported lower than expected sales numbers. Amazon shares were down as much as 10% early in the trading session and Google fell as much as 5.4% in early trading

Charter said in a conference call with analysts that it is winding down its integration of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, which it purchased in 2016, and should be finished by the end of the year.

That integration, which included converting much of the TWC and Bright House legacy footprint to digital, buying additional set-top boxes and stepping up broadband speeds, required additional capital expenditures and disrupted the overall operations, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge told analysts Friday. But those pressures will be substantially eased as the integration is completed.

“We spent a lot of money to upgrade the network to all-digital,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge said TWC’s analog plant had three negative attributes: it ate up spectrum that could otherwise be used for broadband and IP video, it had an inferior picture, and it required deploying new set-tops to every home to fix it.

“That capital to buy the set-top boxes, to roll the trucks and the disruption in the operating business and the impact that has on phone traffic and service calls and therefore the ability to focus on sales, all of that impacted both 2017 and 2018,” Rutledge said.

At the same time, Rutledge was optimistic that recent weakness in the satellite and virtual MVPD sector, could translated into stronger numbers for cable going forward. AT&T said its DirecTV satellite TV service lost about 359,000 net new subscribers in Q3 and its OTT service DirecTV Now added a disappointing 49,000 customers.

“I’ve said all along that I thought the shrinking of the satellite business would benefit our video business, but then you’ve got these other trends as well, including recent price increases in the virtual MVPD space, which probably impacted their results too,” Rutledge said. “…Satellite is a very high-priced single product, with $100 ARPUs in a world where the content is devalued. I think you’ll see continued erosion of that business, and some of that will shift to us.” 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Tuesday up nearly 550 points, beginning what the market hopes is a long crawl back from big losses last week.

The Dow lost nearly 1,400 points between Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 as investors bailed out of the market fearing a slowdown in the economy and increasing trade tensions. Losses continued in subsequent trading but at a slower pace on Oct, 12 (down about 67 points) and Oct. 15 (down 81 points).

The Dow finished Oct. 16 at 25,798.42, up 547.87 points, or about 2.17%, its biggest one-day percentage rise since March.

Cable stocks reaped some benefits, with stocks in the sector rising between 1% and 3%.

Comcast was the biggest gainer on the distribution side, up 2.5% to $35.96 per share on Oct. 16. Charter Communications followed, up 2.2% to $320.86 per share, and Liberty Global rose 1.5% to $26.34.

On the programming side, Viacom was the big winner, rising 3.3% to $32.83 per share, while The Walt Disney Co. rose 2.6% to $116.34; 21st Century Fox was up 1% to $45.86 each and Discovery rose 2.2% to $33.05 each.

AT&T was essentially flat at $32.38 per share as was Verizon at $53.73 per share. Dish Network increased 1.4% to $34.15 per share.

Technology stocks, battered during last week’s sell-off, continued their climb back. Netflix, slated to release its Q3 earnings after the close, rose 4% to $346.59 per share; Amazon up 3.4% to $1,819.95 and Apple up 2.2% to $222.13 each. Facebook finished the day up 3.4% to $158.37 and Google closed at $1,120.02 per share, up 2.5%. 

The stock market closed another wild trading week, with the Dow Jones Industrial finishing up 330 points after a rollercoaster ride where the difference between its intraday high and low was more than 1,000 points.

Media stocks showed gains, but like the rest of the market still have a long way to go to make up past losses.

The Dow closed at 24,190, up 330 points and coming after a loss of more than 1,000 points on Thursday. Fears over possible coming inflation and higher interest rates added to the volatility, which isn’t expected to calm down soon. With Thursday’s declines the market officially entered correction territory, having dropped 10% since its last high on Jan. 26. For the week, the Dow was down 5.2%, its biggest drop since January 2016. Other indices like the S&P 500 (up 1.5% Friday) and the NASDAQ Composite (up 1.4% on Friday) were down 5.2% and 5.1%, respectively, for the week.

When the dust cleared about 16 of the 25 stocks in the media sector showed gains, led by 21st Century Fox (up 3.4% to $$35.73), Altice USA (up 2.8% to $19.21), MSG Networks (up 2.1% to $23.20) and The Walt Disney Co. (up 1.7% to $103.09). Google led tech stocks, up 3.6% to $1,037.78 each, followed by Facebook (up 2.6% to $176.11) and Apple (up 1.2% to $156.41).

Lionsgate, which reported earnings after the close on Thursday, fell 12.3% to $26.81 per share, mainly because the company lowered its three-year guidance, saying plans to restructure its film slate will pressure growth.

Continued queasiness over the potential for higher inflation rates continued to pound the stock market Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than 1,100 points – it’s largest single day decline ever – as investors headed for the exits. Cable stocks, which fell hard in last week’s sell-off when the Dow lost about 1,100 points over five days of trading, continued to falter.

The Dow closed at 24,345.75, down 1,175.21 points or about 4.6%. Other indices had similar declines -- the S&P 500 fell 113.19 points (4.1%) to 2,648.94 while the NASDAQ 100 closed at 6,495.92, down 264.37 points (3.9%). 

Every stock in the sector posted losses on Monday, ranging from a 1.1% ($7.98 per share) decline for Cable One to a 4.8% ($1.83 per share) dip for Liberty Global.

The declines swept across business lines, with programmers, distributors and tech giants all posting losses. Google closed at $1,054.66 per share on Monday, down 5.2% ($57.24 each), while Amazon fell 2.8% to $1,390 each, Netflix was down 4.9% to $254.27, Apple fell 2.5% to $156.49 and Facebook was off 4.7% to $181.61 per share.

On the distribution side, Comcast was down 4.7% to $36.66, Dish fell 4.4% to $44,72 each, Charter was down 3.9% to $372.50, AT&T dipped 3.8% to $36.63 and Verizon was down 4.1% to $50.50 each.

Programmers also had a rough Monday, with Discovery Communications down 4.3% to $22.78 per share, AMC Networks down 4.2% to $48.92 per share; Viacom down 3.4% to $31.14; and The Walt Disney Co. down 3.7% to $104.70 per share.

The Dow Jones  Industrial Average, after an early rally that saw the index rise by as much as 441 points, fell again for the sixth straight trading day, closing Tuesday down nearly 205 points. But cable stocks, which had been hammered over the past several weeks, managed to hold their own, with some even showing small gains during the session.

The Dow closed at 15,666.44 on Tuesday, down 204.91 points. It was an improvement over the 588-point drop on Monday, but showed that the market hasn’t fully rebounded from fears over the global economy. The index last showed a gain on Aug, 17 when it closed at 17,545.18, up 67.78 points. Since then, the DJIA has fallen nearly 1,700 points.

Cable stocks managed to weather the storm well, with some even showing small gains. In the distribution sector, Time Warner Cable closed at $180.72 per share, up about 1% ($1.55 each) and Cable One closed at $413.23 each, up 1%, or $3.24 per share. Other stocks in the sector showed minimal declines – Charter fell 21 cents each to $171.29 (down 0.12%); Cablevision was down 7 cents to $22.59 (-0.3%) and Comcast dipped 56 cents to $53.85 per share, down 1%.

The programming sector, pounded over the past few weeks as investors fretted about cord-cutters, over-the-top providers and poor ratings cutting into profits, fared even better.  Several stocks showed gains, led by Netflix, which rose 4.8% ($4.64 each) to $101.52 per share. Oher programmers that showed increases were The Walt Disney Co., up 53 cents to $95.89 (+0.6%); Liberty Media, up 24 cents to $34.96 each (+0.7%); Viacom, up 43 cents to $38.58 each (1.1%); 21st Century Fox, up 7 cents (0.3%) to 26.73 per share; QVC Group, up 20 cents (0.8%)to $26.62 and Madison Square Garden Co., up $1.85 (2.7%) to $70.69 per share.

Even the stocks that declines kept their losses in check – Time Warner Inc. fell 12 cents (-0.2%) to $69.69 each; CBS dipped 68 cents (1.6%) to $43.27 per share; Scripps Networks fell 34 cents (-0.7%)to $51.38 and Discovery was down 23 cents (-0.9%) to $28.82 per share.