Higher Prices Boost Time Warner Cable, But Subscriber Losses Continue

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Cable’s latest results may not be proof of actual cord-cutting, but it will surely fuel the debate as to whether cable subscribers are abandoning their usual method of accessing TV programming for over-the-top systems that offer video streamed through an internet connection. At the same time, higher subscription prices and continued high unemployment may have been the more significant factors driving TWC’s subscriber numbers down.

During Q4, TWC began testing a lower-cost tiered subscription plan in a few markets as a way to appeal to those squeezed economically. Dubbed TV Essentials, the cable operated offered deep discounts of just $30-40 monthly rates to subs in New York City, Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. But it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference, as TWC lost a net 141,000 video subs in the last quarter. At the same time, and for cord-cutting conspiracy theorists, this will surely clinch it, TWC also added 94,000 internet customers.

In all, the video subscriber losses didn’t dent the company’s profits and revenues, which were up thanks in part, to higher rates in general.

Separately, TWC also raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to $0.48 cents per share, which followed the company’s share repurchase program in Q4. Release

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