Charter Communications To Lure Customers With Promotions

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) , the second largest cable multi-service operator (MSO) in the U.S., has launched lucrative promotional offers in order to stay competitive with a strong subscriber base. The cable company is offering a double-play package of Spectrum TV (more than 130 channels) and 60 Mbps internet (100 Mbps in some markets) for $29.99 each. The package includes Showtime for free of cost during the one-year span of the promotion. With a $5.99 extra for an HD set-top, the bundle costs $65.97 a month before taxes.

The Spectrum TV was launched by Charter Communications, after the twin buyout ofTime Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks (BHC), and is aimed at uniting the viewing experience of these two big MSOs on a single podium. The new Spectrum TV app also supports legacy Charter Communications customers as well as those who came on board via the company’s acquisitions of TWC and BHN.

Additionally, Charter Communications has been undertaking various initiatives to make its Spectrum products even better. The company has developed its cloud-based user interface named Spectrum Guide, to run on all set-top boxes offering advanced video navigation. Moreover, it has initiated the rollout of its Spectrum WiFi, which provides unlimited Internet access to residential customers even when they are outdoors.

Such initiatives are primarily focused on to lure more subscribers. Although the company’s commercial segment is faring well, evident from the revenue and subscriber growth in the reported second-quarter 2017, it lost 90,000 video customers in the residential segment. Considering the last six quarters, the cable company has reportedly lost 336,000 pay TV customers.

Bottom Line

The cable television industry, being one of the important industries in the U.S., has been long grappling with subscriber losses. They are losing their customers to wireless telecom operators as well as online streaming service providers. The existing saturation and competition of the multi-channel U.S. video market has led to this loss. Moreover, online video streaming service providers such as Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) , Hulu.com, YouTube etc., pose severe threat to cable TV operators due to cheap source of TV programming.

Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Presently, Charter Communications is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy)stocks here.

Over the past three months, shares of Charter Communications have rallied 23.81%, outperforming the 6.09% growth of the industry it belongs to.

Moreover, we also look forward to the wireless venture of Charter Communications in collaboration with Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) . For this much-hyped wireless venture, both companies have already inked a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement with U.S. telecom behemoth Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to utilize its wireless network.

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