A WideOpenWest minority shareholder is calling the unsolicited, $4.80 per share offer for the cable company "offensively low." In a letter Thursday to WOW's special committee evaluating the purchase offer from DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners (see 2405030047), LB Partners said the $4.80 offer "discounts a reasonable valuation by half." WOW's fiber assets are "destined to be a massive source of value," LB said in the letter, which was filed with the SEC. It said that while fixed broadband providers are facing heavy competition from 5G fixed wireless providers, that fixed wireless access offering will become a smaller threat as mobile operators allocate more of their spectrum toward higher-value mobile services. That moderation of FWA competition "is set to propel [WOW] performance for years to come," LB said. Between June and early November 2023, WOW stock bounced between $6.90 and nearly $9, before a big drop; since then, it has largely traded at less than $4.
Expect to see cable providers following Comcast and offering bundled streaming products, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon wrote Monday. Comcast is rolling out a discounted bundle of Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ for Xfinity customers. Dixon said Comcast's StreamSaver bundle might have a small impact on the decline of video subscribers, but its real goal is retaining broadband subscribers. The value of a discounted subscription VOD bundle is that it could entice some broadband subscribers who were considering quitting to stay, he said. The bundle also could lure mobile customers from wireless carriers to Comcast's mobile service, he said. At the same time, the bundle could accelerate the traditional video business's decline, he said. But other cable providers will want to defend their broadband businesses with their bundles, he said. Comcast said Tuesday the StreamSaver bundle will cost $15/month.
Bleichmar Fonti is conducting an investigation into the unsolicited nonbinding preliminary proposal that WideOpenWest received May 2 from DigitalBridge Investments and various Crestview Partners entities to buy for $4.80 a share in cash all the outstanding shares of WOW that Crestview doesn’t currently own (see 2405030047), the law firm’s overview page said. It’s probing the proposal to determine whether WOW’s board “is conflicted, engaging in an unfair process, and agreeing to an unfair amount to be paid to shareholders,” it said. WOW doesn't comment on pending legal matters, a spokesperson said in an email Wednesday.
Mediacom is boosting the speed of some of its Xtream broadband service tiers this week, with Xtream Internet 100 going from 100 Mbps to 250 Mbps, and Xtream Internet 300 from 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps, the company said Tuesday. In addition, it said it was replacing its Connect2Compete Plus low-cost program with Xtream Connect, which offers 100/20 Mbps speeds for $15 monthly to households participating in various federal social safety net programs.
WideOpenWest's high-speed data subscriber declines are slowing, CEO Teresa Elder said Tuesday as the company announced its Q1 2024 results. The company said it ended the quarter with 489,700 high-speed data subscribers, down from 508,700 the same quarter a year earlier but down only slightly from Q4 2023. That's because WOW has more-simplified pricing, increased minimum speeds to 300 Mbps and boosted 500 Mbps customers to 600 Mbps, Elder said. WOW ended the quarter with 79,300 video subs, down 117,100 from a year ago. Elder said that decline comes as WOW continues a transition from its linear video offering to having customers use YouTube TV (see 2305150027). WOW took no questions during its 13-minute earnings call, citing DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners' unsolicited bid to buy it (see 2405030047).
WideOpenWest received an unsolicited nonbinding preliminary proposal from DigitalBridge Investments and Crestview Partners to purchase WOW shares that Crestview doesn't already own for $4.80 a share, WOW said Friday. It said its board would set up a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the proposal. Crestview has a 38% stake in WOW, according to WOW's annual report.
The cable industry is urging the FCC to simplify the proposed reinstatement of the collection of FCC Form 395-A, which concerns the workforce composition of multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). Smaller MVPDs especially lack resources for handling extensive regulatory requirements, ACA Connects said in docket 98-204 comments this week. It said the agency should let 395-A submissions be made through the Cable and Operations Licensing System, which would help minimize compliance costs. It also urged that mandatory 395-A submissions not occur until at least a year from the effective date of an order reinstating data collection. NCTA also suggested ways of reducing cable operator burden, such as requiring information be made available only through the FCC-hosted Online Public Information File, rather than also through MVPD local facilities or websites. NCTA said the FCC should opt for EEO-1 forms, which would provide substantially similar information, rather than 395-As. American Free Enterprise and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said collecting and disclosing race, gender and ethnicity employee data "is intended to pressure MVPDs to discriminate in recruiting and hiring to bring their workforce composition in line with prevailing notions of 'diversity,'" They urged withdrawal of the proposed rule, saying that publishing the data to pursue increased representation of certain demographics at MVPDs goes against the Fifth Amendment.
Comcast's Now line of prepaid broadband, mobile and streaming services is a reply to fixed wireless' ongoing incursion in home broadband and "a well-considered response" to the looming end of the affordable connectivity program, GlobalData analyst Charles Garrett said Thursday. Comcast announced its Now line this week. Garrett said Now also is a move by Comcast to broaden its addressable market without cannibalizing its existing residential broadband subscriber base. He said Comcast's entry into prepaid wireless faces challenges as the U.S. prepaid marketplace is volatile and shrinking, with Verizon, AT&T and Dish Network losing a combined 547,000 prepaid subs in Q4 2023.
Charter Communications launched a pair of low-cost streaming TV packages for its Spectrum broadband subscribers. It said Tuesday that Spectrum TV Stream features more than 90 live linear channels at a cost of $40 a month, while Spectrum Stream Latino features more than 45 Spanish-language live linear channels at $25 a month.
Charter Communications' shift from a "bring your own device" mobile strategy to its Anytime Upgrade program and handset subsidization approach was inevitable, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote in a note Wednesday. Charter's BYOD strategy, which Comcast shared, had the cable operators residing largely in the low end of the mobile marketplace, he said. Competing in the larger premium market means subsidizing handsets, Moffet added. Charter notably is also offering device insurance at a rate less than what's often available from the Big Three wireless carriers, he said. Charter announced its Anytime Upgrade plan -- allowing Unlimited Plus data subscribers unlimited handset upgrades -- this week.