Charter Launches Streaming Ad Campaign to Combat Cord-Cutting Trend

Charter Communications Inc. has recently secured agreements to incorporate major streaming TV services into its cable-TV packages, marking a significant shift in its strategy to retain customers amidst the trend of cord-cutting. The largest cable-TV provider in the US is now focusing on a robust marketing campaign set for the upcoming year to promote over 10 streaming services that will be included at no extra cost for subscribers.

Tom Montemagno, the executive vice president of programming at Charter, revealed that the delay in launching these services is due to the ongoing integration process into the system. The company aims to differentiate its offerings from the current market cluttered with various promotional deals from different sectors, ranging from telecommunications to retail.

Charter recently inked deals with Comcast Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. to include services like Peacock, Max, and Discovery+ in its cable-TV bundles. Additionally, ad-supported versions of Disney+ and Paramount+ are already part of the lineup. The collective value of these streaming services is estimated at $65 per month if subscribed to individually, compared to Spectrum’s standard cable service, which typically costs around $120 per month for over 150 channels.

Acknowledging the consumer shift towards online viewing and the challenges posed by cord-cutting, Charter’s CEO Chris Winfrey emphasized the importance of providing value to customers. Winfrey highlighted the unfairness of customers having to pay twice for the same content, such as NBC on cable and Peacock as a separate streaming service. By partnering with major media companies like Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Global, Charter has successfully integrated a wide array of streaming services into its offerings.

The specifics of Charter’s deals with media companies remain undisclosed, with varying arrangements in place. Some services are provided to Charter at no cost, while in other cases, the company pays a wholesale rate per subscriber. These agreements for streaming services were bundled with new contracts for traditional broadcast and cable channels, leading to the inclusion of popular services like Disney+ and ESPN+ while dropping less-watched channels.

In a bid to boost streaming subscriptions and mitigate cable-TV cancellations, film and TV companies have engaged in early renewal agreements with Charter. Despite the decline in video subscribers, which stood at 13.3 million at the end of June, Charter remains optimistic about its strategy to retain and attract customers through its evolving service offerings.

Looking ahead, Charter does not plan to include services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+ in its cable-TV packages for free. Instead, the company intends to negotiate separate deals to offer these services to customers. With a substantial internet subscriber base exceeding 30 million, Charter aims to provide flexibility for customers to subscribe to these services on a standalone basis without bundling them with cable TV packages.