Cablevision

Cablevision Names Two Key Executives to Optimum WiFi Management Team

Bernie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:40:21 -0400

BETHPAGE, NY, October 2, 2008 — Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) today announced the addition of two key executives and WiFi pioneers to its wireless broadband product division, Optimum® WiFi. Tim Farrell has been named Vice President, Wireless Product Development and Craig Plunkett has been named Vice President, Wireless Market Development. Read More...

Marketing the Triple Play with Barbeque and Potato Chips

Bernie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:00:56 -0400

Verizon is slowly making their way through New York City and meeting their cable competitors head on. Time Warner Cable and Cablevision share various parts of New York City and its 8 million potential subscribers. Cablevision has more experience in battling Verizon, having tangled with them in various New York suburbs. They’re meeting the FiOS challenge quite nicely. It will be interesting to see if they can repeat their suburban success in the city. Bloomberg News highlights this pitched battle in a revealing article. Verizon is using a variety of marketing tactics to build market share, including barbeques in New York’s boroughs and potato chip and soda parties in Manhattan skyscraper lobbies. On a good night, they’re getting 30 subscribers a building to churn over to FiOS. Well, at least until DOCSIS 3.0 shows up anyway.

Cablevision’s Moves May Open Doors for Network DVR

Bernie — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:35:06 -0400

Cablevision’s recent win in appellate court may open the door for network DVR (nDVR). Cablevision executives have publicly stated they intend to move forward and hope to have a product ready by “early next year.” nDVR offers a DVR service to consumers without the need for a device in the home, potentially saving consumers the purchase or rental costs for the equipment. In theory, nDVR service could be offered at lower price points because a service provider’s overall costs would be lower (i.e. fewer truck rolls, etc.). It also may counter the current advantage of multi-room DVR, offered by current telcoTV competitors AT&T and Verizon.

Significant hurdles still remain. The legal battle, championed by Hollywood movie studios may not be over – there is a still a chance this case goes to the Supreme Court. But even if it doesn’t, content providers will have to be on board for this to fly. There will have to be some “fence mending” and buy-in from the content gods, or this product goes nowhere. There are also some technical issues to work out, most notably, understanding and managing the bandwidth implications of such a service. Assuming those issues get resolved and Cablevision moves forward, nDVR could have significant implications on the competitive landscape. Cablevision may lead the way – but it won’t stop with them. Should it prove effective, look for many cable companies to follow.

Cablevision Lights Up Wi-Fi Network

Bernie — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:19:40 -0400

Cablevision announced a major expansion of their mesh Wi-Fi network, Optimum WiFi, which is now operational in many parts of its New York market. Optimum WiFi will deliver symmetrical 1.5 Mbps service throughout Cablevision’s footprint. The expansion includes commercial and high-traffic areas of Nassau County, in areas of Suffolk County, and on the commuter rail platforms and station parking lots across all of Long Island. "We believe free and broadly available WiFi access will become an important and popular enhancement for our Optimum Online customers. Just a few months into our Optimum WiFi deployment, we have already built and activated the nation's largest and most advanced consumer WiFi network, which will continue to grow and expand, ultimately allowing Optimum customers to bring the superior Internet experience they enjoy at home with them across our entire service area," said Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer in a company statement. Cablevision intends to spend $300 million on the project.

Cablevision has an impressive track record, with industry leading penetration of broadband and voice services on a homes passed basis. Expanding the broadband experience beyond the home is a smart move. Cablevision hopes to leverage the proliferation of wi-fi enabled devices among everyday consumers, including laptops, smartphones, mobile Internet devices, and digital cameras. Providing the means for portable broadband connectivity as a free value add to existing broadband subscribers will help strengthen Cablevisions “Optimum” brand and value proposition with existing and potential customers. Whether it can match up with pending 4G plans from its competitors remains to be seen. But, in true Cablevision fashion, they’re not waiting around to find out.

FiOS is Not a Slam Dunk

Bernie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:08:18 -0400

The past few days, I’ve written a post or two about how in 2Q08, big cable “cleaned big telco’s clock.” I use the term big in recognition of the hundreds of small telcos across the U.S. who may not be experiencing a similar “beat down.” More than likely, these advantages will see-saw from competitor to competitor over time. I’m sure we’ll see big telco take it to big cable in quarters to come. But one particular circumstance is worth noting. It’s Cablevision’s continuing success in meeting the competitive challenge of Verizon FiOS. Cablevision reported somewhat envious numbers for 2Q08 that demonstrate they are in no way ceding their business to Verizon. Some facts to take notice of:

Basic video subscriber additions up by 7K from 1Q08 – adding basic cable subs in this competitive environment is almost unheard of from cable companies

Broadband customers additions up 52,000 or 2.2% from March 2008 and 227,000 or 10.5% from June 2007

Digital voice customers up 81,000 or 4.8% from March 2008 and 367,000 or 26.2% from June 2007 – Cablevision leads all cable companies in voice penetration of homes passed at 37.6%

Achieved ARPU per Basic Video Customer of $132.29 in the second quarter – another industry leading metric

Cablevision intends to begin their migration to DOCSIS 3.0 and will also be deploying a mesh Wi-Fi network across their footprint, both of which will build additional value into their product portfolio

Achieving these results alone is impressive. Achieving them in the face of competition from FiOS is borderline amazing. This is not a single quarter phenomenon – Cablevision has been achieving these results for some time. It takes a little thunder out of the FiOS buzz and also reveals that FTTH triple play deployments are not bullet proof. Telecom carriers who are looking to FTTH to address their competitive challenges, especially in the face of declining DSL adoption, should look at this example as a cautionary tale. A FTTH network alone may not be enough. When faced with a competitor who is more than willing to take FTTH head on, telcos could find themselves in a “dog fight.” Cablevision has proved that they cannot only compete against one (with billions in backing by the way), they can succeed against it. As FiOS moves into more Cablevision territory throughout New York City, this pitched battle will be worth watching.

Cablevision to Build Footprint Wide Wi-Fi Mesh Network

Bernie — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:37:04 -0400

Cablevision, a cable triple play pioneer, announced plans to launch a broadband wireless network covering their New York metro footprint within two years. The new network will be based on Wi-Fi mesh technology and will be offered at no charge to existing Cablevision customers and for a fee for non-Cablevision customers. Cablevision has about 3.3 million customers and an industry leading broadband penetration rate of 50%. This launch follows a trend by other smaller cable MSOs and broadband service providers, who see broadband wireless networks as a value add opportunity for existing customers.

This is not just about broadband Internet access though. For example, Multichannel News describes a possible scenario offered by Cisco, where “… a Wi-Fi mesh network could allow a cable operator to offer subscribers ubiquitous connectivity in a metro area for any service. For example, someone watching TV could choose to transfer the video signal to a cellular phone and walk outside if Cisco’s Cable Service Mesh is deployed in the subscriber’s neighborhood.” Applications like that could provide tangible competitive advantage. At least until Verizon integrates a similar service utilizing FiOS and LTE. With announcements like this and the recent WiMAX joint venture featuring prominent cable companies, it appears as if cable is getting their wireless mojo going.

Cablevision Smackdown of FiOS

Bernie — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:29:42 -0500

Most cable companies these days are blaming Verizon FiOS and other telecom and DBS competitors for lackluster video subscriber additions. Yet Cablevision, who probably is most exposed to competition from Verizon FiOS in the metropolitan New York market is bucking the trend. Their most recent quarterly report shows actual growth in all video subscriber units, including basic cable. In fact Cablevision leads all cable companies in terms of penetration for desirable services, despite the competition from Verizon. The numbers are impressive:

Digital Cable penetration – 84%
High Speed Internet penetration - 49%
Voice Telephony penetration – 34%
HD penetration of Digital Subscribers – 40%

The good news pushed their stock price up more than 7% in one day. It all begs the question, what’s their secret? How have they been able to stand straight up to Verizon, where others are failing? Perhaps their push of value add services like deploying free Wi-Fi hotspots for their broadband customers throughout their footprint, or caller-ID on the television is helping. Cablevision also extended it's triple play bundle promotions to all of it's subscribers, not just new ones. Maybe that strategy is paying real dividends now. Whatever the case, the real test will be whether they can sustain these efforts. Verizon certainly will be taking notice, and will respond. Can Cablevision continue to brush off Verizon’s challenge? Stay tuned.

Cablevision Expands SMB Options

Bernie — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:13:44 -0500

Cablevision is now offering small and medium business customers up to 12 voice lines. The expanded offering is under their business Optimum Voice portfolio and offers flat-rate, unlimited local and long-distance calling, Caller ID, call waiting and enhanced voicemail. Cablevision also bundles business broadband packages of up to 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.

Cablevision to Offer Same Day VOD and DVD Title Releases

Bernie — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Cablevision announced a new service that allows subscribers to view video on demand titles the same day as their release on DVD, provided they purchase the DVD. The new service is branded “Popcorn DVDs On-Demand,” and Cablevision has partnered with Popcorn Home Entertainment for the new service. Each VOD/DVD title will be priced at $19.95 (between $9.95 - $15-95 for older titles), plus shipping. Cablevision subscribers will be able to watch the title immediately on VOD, and will receive a DVD of the same title in the mail.

Cablevision Offers Television Caller ID

Bernie — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:08:36 -0400

Once the purview of IPTV operators only, caller ID display on the television is increasingly catching on with cable MSOs. Cablevision is the latest MSO to announce (discussed towards the bottom of the page) its launch. Cablevision has not decided whether to charge for the service