Economy, Competition Cause Broadband Sub Losses at WOW
High interest rates and inflation helped hammer WideOpenWest's subscriber numbers, with the company losing 4,400 high-speed data subscribers in Q3 and expecting to lose "significantly more" in Q4, CEO Teresa Elder said last week as WOW announced Q3 financial results.…
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She said WOW is also facing increased competition, with fixed wireless more aggressively competing at lower-speed tiers in several of its markets. WOW stock closed Thursday at $3.19, down 57%. Noting construction has begun on plans to pass 80,000 new homes in Michigan, with construction to start next year on similar network expansions in Minnesota and Florida, she said WOW is on target to bring its network to 400,000 additional homes by the end of 2027. Since the company's August launch of YouTube TV as its primary video offering (see 2308020007), more than 13% of new subscribers have signed up for the subscription VOD service, said Elder. While WOW hasn't forced customers off its legacy video service so far, she said that in the next 12 to 18 months it wants "to completely get off of our QAM network" and will start forcing them off. WOW finished Q3 with 503,400 high-speed data subscribers, down from 518,600 the same quarter a year earlier; 100,800 video subs, down from 129,900; and 82,700 telephony subs, down from 92,900.