Altice USA Sheds 72,800 Video Subscribers as Quarterly Revenue, Earnings Shrink

Altice USA continues to shed video subscribers as the wider cable industry fends off the impact of cord-cutting and TV viewers turning to streaming platforms.

Altice USA CEO Responds to Charter Takeover Speculation

The cable operator, led by Dennis Mathew, shed 72,800 video customers during the second quarter, and 291,000 video subscribers year-on-year. Altice USA finished the latest financial quarter with 2.02 million pay–TV subscribers, with recent video disconnects coming especially from low-income households.

Altice USA serves around 5 million residential and business cable customers across 21 U.S. states and through its Optimum brand. To retain video customers, the cable operator recently announced an upcoming $30 per-month Internet-delivered Entertainment TV package for subscribers.

“We believe that long term we have now the right products and capabilities to be able to compete across every segment,” Mathews told analysts during a morning conference call. Altice USA, like rival cable TV operators, has worked improve its customer experience on pricing, product installs and content offerings for operational efficiencies.

The cable player also shed 51,000 home-based broadband subscribers in the second quarter, compared to 37,000 broadband customers shed in the same period of 2023. That fall followed competitive pressures from rival cable giants and the end of Affordable Connectivity Program government subsidies to allow low-income households to save on monthly broadband packages.

Altice USA CEO Talks Disney-Charter Carriage Deal: "The Model Is Broken"

Altice USA concluded the second quarter with 4.4 million broadband subscribers. And the company added 33,000 mobile phone customers during the latest quarter.

Net income fell to $15.4 million, or 3 cents during the second quarter, against $78.3 million, or 17 cents a share, recorded a year ago. Revenue fell 3.6 percent to $2.2 billion during the latest financial quarter.

Shares in Altice USA slid by 23 cents, or 11 percent, to $1.86 in pre-market trading on Thursday.

Altice USA Loses 68,000 Video Subscribers as Quarterly Earnings Fall