Internet, Video Losses Continue for Charter

Charter Spectrum service truck
(Image credit: Charter Communications)

Charter Communications posted a second-quarter increase in net income and revenue despite continuing losses of internet and video customers.

Net income at Stamford, Connecticut-based Charter rose 0.5% to $1.23 billion, or $8.49 a share, from $1.22 billion, or $8.05 a share a year ago. 

Revenue rose by 0.2% to $13.7 billion, driven by a 37% jump in residential mobile service revenue.

Also Read: Charter Follows Comcast With Worst-Ever Broadband Quarter, Loses 149,000 Subscribers in Q2

The financial reports beat Wall Street expectations.

Charter said it lost 149,000 residential and small- and medium-sized business Spectrum Internet customers, leaving it with 30.4 million customers. The company said it lost 154,000 broadband homes mainly because of the end of the government’s Affordable Connectivity Program.

Internet revenue rose 1.3% to $5.8 billion. 

The company lost 393,000 residential Spectrum video subscribers, finishing the quarter with 12.7 million. The losses were more than double the losses in Q2 2023.

Revenue from video fell 7.7% to $3.9 billion.

Chris Winfrey

Charter CEO Chris Winfrey (Image credit: Charter)

Programming costs fell 9.8% to $268 million as a result of having fewer video subscribers and a bigger share of lower-cost packages.

The company added 557,000 Spectrum Mobile cellphone lines, for a total of 8.8 million. 

Mobile revenue was up 36.9% to $737 million.

The company said it increased the number of homes passed by 2.8% to 57.8 million homes.

“We are executing well on several transformational initiatives, growing EBITDA through efficiencies and improving our service and sales capabilities,“ Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said. “We remain fully focused on driving customer growth, with a unique, high-quality product set that continues to evolve, creating long-term value for 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.