New York based Cablevision currently serves metropolitan New York City with a triple play bundle. They’re considered a market leader among cable MSOs in key metrics, including digital, broadband, voice, and triple play penetration, as well as ARPU. They’re about to take their show on the road – far from their home base of operations.
Back in June, they announced an acquisition of Bresnan Communications, a rural cable MSO with 320,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. The FCC’s media bureau just approved the transfer of control of Bresnan’s licenses to Cablevision.
The big question among analysts, myself included — can Cablevision replicate their enviable success in New York to rural markets in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah? After all, these are considerably different markets. It will be an interesting case study to watch.
Bresnan’s current competitors should pay particular attention. Cablevision has 54% penetration of broadband and 43% penetration of digital voice in their home market. They will certainly try to achieve that success in these new markets, meaning a fierce competitive battle will soon be underway.
