A cable company is throwing in free streaming to keep customers from cutting the cord
As cord-cutting continues to rise, one cable company is partnering with streaming platforms in an effort to keep its customers.
Charter Communications (CHTR) announced Wednesday that its new, multiyear distribution deal with NBCUniversal — the parent company of NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, SYFY, and USA Network — will give subscribers free access to Peacock (CMCSA), NBCUniversal’s streaming platform.
“With the renewal of our long-standing partnership with NBCUniversal, we now have completed deals with every major programmer to create better flexibility and greater value to our customers by including DTC [direct-to-consumer] streaming apps with their Spectrum TV service, at no extra cost,” Tom Montemagno, the executive vice president of programming acquisition for Charter Communications, said in a press release.
The cable company already offers access to Disney (DIS)+, ESPN+, Paramount (PARA)+, AMC (AMCX)+, BET+, ViX, Max (WBD), and Discovery+ to its Spectrum TV Select video customers.
The deal comes as cable providers and cable channel owners struggle with how to handle the meteoric rise of streaming.
This week, telecommunications giant AT&T (T) said it is selling its remaining stake in DirecTV as it looks to shift its focus back to wireless 5G and fiber connectivity offerings.
For its part, DirecTV announced it will be acquiring EchoStar’s satellite television business, including Dish TV (SATS).
“DirecTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry,” DirecTV chief executive Bill Morrow said in a statement. “With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of TV, which is to aggregate, curate, and distribute content tailored to customers’ interests, and to be better positioned to realize operating efficiencies while creating value for customers through additional investment.”
DirecTV and Dish have collectively lost 63% of their satellite customers since 2016, the company said.
Disney, Fox Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Discovery, all slashed jobs this summer in the media industry’s downsizing push. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is reportedly considering splitting the company’s streaming and studio assets from its cable network business.
Despite operating one of the few profitable streaming platforms, Warner Bros. Discovery has been dragged down by its struggling linear TV assets. The company’s stock has plummeted 70% since the merger that created it in 2022.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery also recently launched a bundle that combines all of its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu, and Max — under one monthly subscription plan starting at $16.99 a month.
Disney is also reportedly working on giving its streaming platform a facelift that’ll make it look like a mashup of regular TV and Netflix to boost viewership.
— Rocio Fabbro contributed to this article.
