Charter drops 90,000 subs in Q2
July 27, 2017
Charter Communications has reported lower Q2 earnings and continued pay-TV subscriber losses. The group led by chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, lost 90,000 net residential pay-TV subscribers in the second quarter, compared with a loss of 152,000 in the year-ago period. For the first quarter of the year, the company had recorded a 100,000 drop.
The $55 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and the $10.4 billion purchase of Bright House in May of last year made Charter the second-biggest US cable company behind Comcast, and it has focused on higher-end subscribers, which has meant a loss of lower-end Time Warner Cable customers.
Charter reported a profit of $139 million, compared with a year-ago pro forma profit of $248 million. Revenue rose 4 per cent to $10.4 billion.
Rutledge commented: “With the rollout of our new pricing and packaging completed in June, we are now offering a simple, high-value product across our 50 million passings, under one brand, Spectrum. That product is working in the marketplace, and we continue to see higher year-over-year customer connect volumes across our new footprint. As we move forward with our integration, more of our customers are getting better products at better prices, which will drive higher customer satisfaction, lower churn and greater value into our business.”