A day after Charter Communications announced a joint venture with Comcast to create a streaming platform based on the latter’s Flex broadband-only product, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said that he sees a day when the bulk of its Spectrum video customers receive service via internet protocol delivery. He called the Comcast partnership a step in that direction. 

“I expect that incrementally most of our customer base will be all-IP,” Rutledge said after being asked about the JV on Charter’s Q1 earnings conference call with analysts. He added that unused video spectrum can be recaptured and used to increase broadband speeds or provide additional capacity over time.

In a research note Friday, MoffettNathanson senior analyst Craig Moffett noted that if the Flex box does become Charter’s new set-top, effectively moving all of its video to IP-based apps, it would free up enormous amounts of capacity. 

Rutledge didn’t say when that would happen, and what he said is something that cable operators have been quietly moving toward for years. But it was a public admission that cable is acknowledging that streaming is becoming the dominant force in video. This is coming from one of the better performers in the video space — Charter lost about 112,000 video customers in Q1, compared to a loss of 512,000 video subs for Comcast. Later on the call, Rutledge said that he still believes in the video business and Charter’s ability to keep its pay TV losses low can be attributed to its knack for packaging.

“We’re continuously improving the rights structures around what we’re able to sell,” Rutledge said. “It’s been difficult because of the way historically video’s been packaged in this very fat, expensive bundle that is driven by sports rights costs. We’ve been able to get some of the content out of that ecosystem and put it into tiers and we’re successfully selling those. I think that over time, we’ll be able to build a very nice video business.” 

Also: Could Comcast’s and Charter’s New Streaming Platform Be the Launching Pad for Something Bigger? 

That’s a key point, and whether or not Rutledge was making it as a hint of bigger things to come, being able to package video correctly is going to be crucial going forward no matter what delivery system is used. I talk a lot about the day when cable operators will aggregate streaming apps and sell them in bundles, replacing the current video model — and Rutledge has hinted at that in the past, too. But with streamers starting to feel the pressure from high costs, competition and viewer fatigue, having someone with a proven track record driving subscriptions could be invaluable. Whether they take the industry up on it remains to be seen.

Maybe streamers are beginning to learn their lesson. Netflix, after years of saying they didn’t care if subscribers shared passwords, last month said they would crack down on the practice. Other streamers are keeping a closer eye on password sharing, something that Rutledge warned about years ago. 

And though it would have been easy to gloat about Netflix’s current dilemma, aside from a brief “I-told-you-so” joke, Rutledge took the high road, pointing out that the practice affects the entire media industry. 

“It’s not just a problem for the companies that are not controlling their passwords, it’s a problem for everybody in the industry, because all of that content that comes out without anybody paying for it affects the supply and demand of all content, not just the provider that is selling the content,” Rutledge said. “[That] diminishes the value of content for everybody, which is a point we had been trying to make for years.”

Another plus for Charter is that Rutledge actually likes the video business. He doesn’t see it as an albatross, or as a roadblock to offering more profitable broadband service, but as a good product in a growing lineup of good products. It helps that he has seen the various transformations of that product over the years, and not just in video. During the call, he was asked how he felt about the explosion of new fiber builds and fixed wireless offerings geared at taking broadband share away from cable. 

“There have been periods in my cable career where sentiment has gone up and down, and my sentiment has remained the same,” Rutledge said. “I think it [broadband] is a great business and I think we have a great opportunity to continue to grow the business successfully. When everybody’s euphoric it’s probably odd, and when everybody’s pessimistic it’s odd, and I’m unchanged.” ▪️

Comcast Business said it has closed its purchase of Plano, Texas-based software defined networking and global platform company Masergy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Comcast first announced the Masergy purchase in August.  the company has said the purchase will enable its customers to manage their international operations and networks more efficiently. Masergy has more than 1,400 customers in nearly 100 countries worldwide.

“We’re very pleased to have closed on our acquisition of Masergy and are excited to officially have their outstanding employees and leadership as part of the Comcast Business family,” Comcast Business president Bill Stemper said in a press release. “This deal fortifies our channel distribution strategy and redoubles our commitment to the channel partner community. The combination of our teams and complementary service portfolios will enhance the value we bring to large and mid-size companies worldwide.”

Altice USA has unveiled its new communications hub, Altice One, offering customers seamless navigation across traditional video and over-the-top services as well as whole-home WiFi connectivity, a voice remote and other features.

Altice USA’s parent company Altice N.V., had previously successfully introduced a similar offering in Europe under the name “La Box” several years ago. In the U.S., the technology will be largely housed in the cloud, offering fully integrated access to live TV, video on demand, apps such as YouTube and Pandora, cloud DVR recordings and WiFi connectivity – plus advanced search via a new voice-activated remote control, with more to come.

“We live in a world where content and technology are converging at a fast pace, and Altice One provides the experience, entertainment and connectivity that consumers are looking for today,” Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said in a statement. “Altice One is just the beginning of a new, better and simple experience for Altice’s Optimum and Suddenlink customers as we look to become the connected home provider of choice now and into the future. Less than two years after acquiring Cablevision and Suddenlink, we’re thrilled to bring this new service to market for our customers and reinforce our ongoing commitment to continuous innovation in the U.S.”

Related: Altice USA Hawks Nest Smart Home Products

Altice One has been in customer trials and will be available in select areas of Long Island beginning next week, rolling out across the rest of Altice USA’s footprint in the coming months.

News of the new platform comes as Altice USA announced third-quarter earnings. 

RELATED: Altice USA Q3 Video Losses Improve

Aside from the voice activated remote – a staple of Comcast’s X1 operating system – Altice One features include a My Picks section for customers’ favorite shows and recently recorded content; Restart, which allows customers to go back to the beginning of a show; a cloud DVR and 4K capabilities. In addition, Altice One allows for more seamless app integration, including access to content from YouTube and Pandora, with deals in place to integrate additional OTT services in the near future.

When it reached its carriage deal with Disney earlier last month, Altice agreed to eventually carry Disney’s direct to consumer offerings – an ESPN-branded service slated for early 2018 and a Disney DTC service to be launched in 2019 – so those services likely will be included.

Connectivity features include: Altice One Minis, smaller digital boxes servicing additional TVs in the home and offering the same user interface and experience. Each mini also can act as a WiFi extender.

In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Goei said the first installation of the service is scheduled for Monday (Nov. 6) in Long Island and that future rollouts will concentrate on double play and triple play customers. About 60% of Altice USA’s customers take two or three services, he added.