Offering subscribers credits of up to $25 per month on their bills, Cablevision Systems Corp. launched an “Optimum Rewards” program geared at driving sales of its voice and high-speed-data products to existing video customers.
Cablevision began charging new customers who subscribe to its digital-cable, cable-modem and telephone service $29.95 per month for each service for one year if they took all three products, but the MSO didn’t offer comparable discounts to existing customers.
Under the Optimum Rewards program, digital-video customers who upgrade to Optimum Online and Optimum Voice will get credits of $25 per month on their bills. Customers who already subscribe to digital cable and high-speed data will receive $20 monthly credits if they add Optimum Voice.
“We believe Optimum Rewards will be a compelling incentive for existing customers to upgrade to our full bundle of Optimum services,” Cablevision executive vice president of product management and marketing Patricia Gottesman said in a prepared statement.
New subscribers who take Cablevision’s triple-play offering won’t be eligible for the Optimum Rewards credits until two years after they order all three products, which will cost them $89.85 for the first year. In their second year, new customers who take all three products must pay $39.95 monthly each for Optimum Online and digital cable, while the price for Optimum Voice rises to $34.95 monthly.
Cablevision said it will begin phasing in the rewards program “on a limited basis” this month, and the program will be offered to its entire service area by the end of the year.
