Charter Second-Quarter Net Falls as 189,000 Subscribers Cut the Cord

Charter Communications logo on a wall
(Image credit: Charter)

Charter Communications reported lower second-quarter earnings as cord-cutting and a drop in advertising offset growth in internet and mobile revenue.

Net income fell 16.8% to $1.223 billion, or $8.05 a share, from $1.471 billion, or $8.80 a share a year ago.

Revenue rose 0.5% to $13.7 billion. 

The results were below Wall Street forecasts.

Charter lost 189,000 residential pay TV customers, leaving it with 14.1 million residential video customers. That’s just behind Comcast, which has 14.98 million video subscribers after losing 520,000 subscribers during the quarter.

Also Read: Charter Could Surpass Comcast as the Biggest Remaining Linear Pay TV Supplier in America

A year ago, Charter lost 240,000 video subscribers in the second quarter. 

Including business customers, Charter lost 200,000 pay TV subscribers.

Video revenue fell 8.3% to $365 million.

The company noted that it plans to begin deploying Xumo-branded streaming devices later this year, giving broadband customers access to streaming video.

Residential internet revenue grew 3.1% and residential mobile service revenue grew 29.8%. 

The company added 70,000 residential internet customers, compared to an increase of 17,000 a year ago.

Residential wireline voice customers dropped by 225,000 to 7.2 million. 

The company added 628,000 residential mobile lines in the quarter, nearly doubling last year’s growth. The company finished the quarter with 6.4 million residential mobile lines.

Charter ended the quarter with a total of 32.2 million residential and small- to medium-sized business customer relationships, excluding mobile-only customers. Mobile revenue rose 29.8% to $539 million.

Advertising revenue fell 16.5% to $384 million in a non-election year. 

“We are growing our business by providing differentiated and valuable products, and high-quality service to our customers,” CEO Chris Winfrey said. “We are also executing well on our evolution and expansion initiatives, and these strategic investments will lead to further customer and financial growth, creating long-term value for Charter shareholders.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.