Revenue was flat, impacted by $78.7 million in regional sports network credits the distributor has earmarked for customers, and broadband subscriber additions nearly doubled for Altice USA in the third quarter.
Altice USA reported revenue of $2.43 billion in the quarter, down 0.2% from the previous year. The cable operator said revenue would have risen 3% in the period, excluding RSN credits it expects to return to residential and business customers. Altice said it expects to return about $76.7 million to residential customers and another $2 million to business customers as a result of the affiliate fee credits it anticipates will come from RSNs for events and games not delivered during the past nine months during the pandemic. Adjusted EBITDA increased 5.5% to $1.13 billion.
Altice added 26,000 broadband customers in the quarter, up from the 15,000 additions it had in the prior year. Video customer losses increased to 86,000, more than twice the 32,000 video subscribers lost in the same period in 2019.
“We delivered strong subscriber and financial performance in the face of the ongoing pandemic, driven by strong underlying revenue, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow trends,” Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said in a press release. “Our cable business continues to outperform during this unprecedented time, and we also saw resilience and recovery in both our Business Services and News and Advertising businesses. We remain excited about the long-term outlook of our business and continue to focus on opportunities to drive value for shareholders."
