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Suddenlink shows third-quarter growth; says video subscriptions remain high [Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas](Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 08--Suddenlink's parent company, Cequel Communications Holdings LLC, announced large gains in high-speed revenue and basic video customers in its third-quarter 2014 financial and operating report released Friday. The third quarter ended on Sept. 30, the day before the seventh-largest cable broadband company in the United Stated decided to drop Viacom channels, which include Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV. Suddenlink Chairman and CEO Jerry Kent highlighted some of the company's growth, saying the third-quarter revenue of $583.6 million grew 6.6 percent compared to the third-quarter results in 2013. Pushing those numbers was high-speed Internet revenue, which grew more than 16 percent, and commercial revenue that grew 11 percent compared to the third quarter in 2013. Suddenlink also added about 2,200 basic video customers, which was its best-ever third-quarter gain, and residential telephone customers grew by about 13,500. Kent went on to discuss the investments the company has made, specifically with Operation GigaSpeed, an expenditure to upgrade data network equipment and equip customers with DOCSES 3.0 equipment. Total residential customer relationships were more than 1,428,200 at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 44,300, or 3.2 percent from the previous year, the report states. Kent addressed the decision to drop Viacom channels during the news conference, saying it was made after Viacom's "irrational price-increase demands." During a four-year period, Kent said the demanded price increase approached almost 50 percent, which would have eventually been passed on to customers. "We made the decision to terminate the agreement and move to alternative sources of content," he said. "Research revealed that customers wanted us to maintain competitive pricing and that there were other channels they'd like to have on their lineup." Viacom, on the other hand, claims its final proposal called for a single-digit price increase. If Suddenlink had agreed to that increase and decided to pass along the cost to its customers, Viacom claims it would have been an increase of 20 cents per month. In the aftermath of the decision, Kent said change in video customers has been less than expected. "Importantly," he added, "most of our customers who disconnected video service because of the loss of Viacom Channels, chose to keep other non-video services. As a result, we've experienced little change in our total customer relationships." Carole Robinson, a spokesperson for Viacom, told A-J Media last week that they had not been in communication with Suddenlink since the channels were dropped. [email protected] --766-8744 Follow Matt on Twitter @MDotrayAJ ___ (c)2014 the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas) Visit the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas) at www.lubbockonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |