WideOpenWest (WOW) spun what is now becoming a familiar narrative among cable operators during it second quarter earnings call — sure, pay TV membership is decreasing, but aggregate video consumption is up, up up!
The only problem is they forget to include a last chapter about how this is all resulting in growth of high-speed internet subscribers.
The Englewood, Colorado-based MSO lost 9,900 pay TV customers in the second quarter, bringing its total to 388,100 remaining video-subscribing souls. The loss is comparable to the 9,100 video subs shed in the second quarter of 2018.
Related: Comcast Spotlight: TV Viewing Reached a 2-Year High in Q1
More notably, WOW lost 400 high-speed internet users after growing its base by around 3,900 in the comparable period last year. CEO Teresa Elder reminded investment analyst during the company’s call Friday that the second quarter is typically the company’s slowest … but whatever. That number probably should be growing every quarter. At least investors probably think so.
WOW stock had been traveling at around $7.60 a share last week and is now trading at just over $7.00 a share.
Total revenue was $289.7 million, down from $291.3 million in the second quarter of 2019 but in line with analysts forecasts.
For her part, Elder trumpeted a new era of unbridled high-speed data consumption based on the new, buoyant TV watching paradigm.
“Traditional video continues to be a less meaningful portion of the business as our product mix shifts to higher-margin HSD, she said. “However, this does not mean video is irrelevant. Our data shows video consumption is actually rising. It’s the way customers consume video that’s changing. Often when a customer doesn’t have linear video, their Internet usage rises significantly because video is now being consumed over the Internet. This shift in behavior drives our commitment to offering our customers the ability to have a full access to video, however it is presented. And this is our pledge to IP."
