Have the winds shifted? Is cable television rebounding? Are households watching cable TV and television advertising? A look at the top 3 cable operators might indicate that the cord cutting trend has reversed. According to each of their fourth quarter reports, cable subscribers, as well as data and phone are all increasing. Charter announced that they increased subs by 33k in the last quarter and 11k for all of 2015. Last month, Time Warner Cable announced that it gained 54K in Q4 which will make its soon to be owner Charter Cable very happy. And Comcast Cable added 89K in Q4 although down for the total year by 36 K in 2015.
Is this reversal simply a Christmas present to the top cable providers or an indication that 2016 could be a growth year for them? Not raising rates to households might be an encouraging sign. But should greed get in the way of a better marketing a customer service approach, these sub gains may be short lived.
