Second-quarter revenue rose 7.6% and cash flow increased a strong 6.8% at Charter Communications, but basic-video customer losses rose slightly to 33,000 from 29,000 in the prior year.
Charter, which is moving forward in its $78.7 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable -- expected to close by the end of the year -- reported revenue of $2.4 billion and cash flow of $848 million for the period.
While basic-video losses were up slightly in the quarter -- the company said if bulk digital upgrades are excluded, basic-video losses fell to 28,000 from 44,000 in the prior year -- Charter managed to add 70,000 high-speed data customers -- up from 55,000 in the prior year. Phone additions of 33,000 were about even with the 35,000 added in Q2 2014.
Residential customer relationships grew by 34,000, with triple-play sell-installs improving year-over-year to 65% of total residential video sales. Residential PSUs increased by 70,000 versus a gain of 55,000 in the prior-year period.
"Our second quarter results demonstrate that our consistent focus on delivering superior products at highly-competitive prices, continues to drive our strong customer, revenue and cash flow growth," Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said in a statement. "We look forward to applying that same focus and strategy across New Charter, following the close of our transactions with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Our new company will drive significant investment into broadband infrastructure, delivering faster broadband speeds and better video products to our customers, while driving customer and cash flow growth for our shareholders."
