STAMFORD, Conn.—In a move that will improve the user experience for broadband applications like gaming, video chats, AI tools, Charter’s Spectrum operating brand has announced the rollout of ultra-low latency internet services powered by L4S technology (low latency, low loss, scalable throughput) in select markets, with a national rollout to follow.

“Speed gets you there, but latency determines how it feels once you arrive,” said Danny Bowman, executive vice president, product at Spectrum. “Many of today’s most popular applications require real-time responsiveness. This is about eliminating delays so customers can enjoy gaming, working or connecting with family via video in a way that feels immediate.”

The company explained that L4S technology enables smoother, more responsive connections for latency-sensitive applications including AI tools, gaming and video chatting. Spectrum’s low-latency network works with products from companies like NVIDIA and any other developers who build their applications to meet L4S standards. When both the product and network are optimized, the customer experience is improved.

Automatically included with Spectrum Internet service at no additional cost, low latency technology is already live for Spectrum customers in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas; Reno, Nev.; Rochester, Minn.; and St. Louis, Mo. areas.

The service will expand to additional markets across the country as the company completes its ongoing network evolution project, bringing enhanced connectivity to customers nationwide.

More information about Spectrum Internet is available at Spectrum.com/Internet.

STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK, N.Y.—Charter Communication’s Spectrum pay TV operations and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced that the discovery+ streaming app is now included at no additional cost for customers who subscribe to certain eligible Spectrum TV plans.

The addition is part of Charter’s ongoing push to add more streaming to its programming packages and to secure rights to those services in its negotiations with programmers.

This strategy provides consumers with a more seamless experience that brings together live TV and popular streaming apps, and includes more than $125 per month in retail streaming value, Spectrum reported.

“The inclusion of discovery+ extends the value Spectrum TV delivers to customers with more choice and flexibility in what and how to watch,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of programming acquisition at Spectrum. “We’re meeting customers wherever they are by bringing live TV and streaming together so they can enjoy discovery+ and other popular apps without managing separate subscriptions and with built-in cost savings.”

With the launch, Spectrum TV customers can activate ad-supported discovery+, which retails for $5.99 per month, for no extra cost to begin streaming shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet and more. Customers can also upgrade to discovery+ (Ad-Free), which retails for $9.99 per month, by paying the $4 difference.

Additionally, Spectrum customers without an eligible TV plan can use The Spectrum App Store to purchase discovery+ and other streaming apps à la carte.

Ad-supported discovery+ joins a lineup of popular apps included with eligible Spectrum TV plans, including the ad-supported versions of:

• Disney+ Hulu Bundle
• ESPN Unlimited
• HBO Max Basic With Ads
• Paramount+ Essential
• Peacock Premium
• AMC+
• ViX
• Tennis Channel
• FOX One

“Our partnership with Spectrum allows us to put discovery+ in front of millions of customers in a way that fits naturally with how they already watch TV,” said Scott Miller, president, networks and streaming distribution, Warner Bros. Discovery. “By making discovery+ available as part of Spectrum TV Select and giving customers without a traditional TV plan the ability to purchase à la carte, we’re extending the reach of our world-class portfolio and making it even more convenient for fans to watch their favorite home, food, true crime, relationships and lifestyle programming as part of their existing Spectrum experience.”

BALTIMORE, Md. & STAMFORD, Conn.—The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and Spectrum have announced a multiyear carriage agreement that will make MASN and its coverage of the Baltimore Orioles available to Spectrum customers in areas of southeastern Maryland and Virginia, and eastern North Carolina.

Starting today, MASN will be available to Spectrum TV customers on channel 335 or 440 in Crisfield, Md.; Accomac, Chincoteague, Suffolk and Waverly, Va.; and Gates County, Manteo, Roanoke Rapids, and Waves, N.C. MASN will provide coverage of every available Orioles game, including pre- and postgame shows, as well as Orioles minor league affiliate games and NCAA Division I men's and women's sports, totaling more than 300 live events annually.

“MASN is excited to partner with Spectrum and to provide Orioles fans with another option to connect with their favorite team,” said Greg Bader, executive vice president and general manager, MASN. “This new partnership will deliver O’s baseball and local collegiate sports to a deserving audience.”

In addition to live Orioles games and “O's Xtra” pre- and postgame shows, Spectrum customers will also be able to watch MASN's extensive lineup of live college football and basketball, boxing, MMA, horseracing, and other content.

During the 2026 NAB Show, MediaKind will be showing attendees how its cloud-native Multiview capabilities continue to scale across North America, with recent deployments highlighting growing usage across major live sports events.

Charter recently launched Multiview for the 2026 NCAA basketball tournaments, enabling customers to watch multiple games simultaneously. Adoption grew rapidly during March Madness, with hundreds of thousands of Multiview viewing hours delivered within days of launch.

The Charter rollout builds on earlier deployments with Comcast, where Multiview was first introduced ahead of the 2024-25 NFL season. Initially launched as a curated experience, the service enabled X1 customers to watch up to six live games on a single screen.

Since then, MediaKind has expanded its Multiview capabilities through its MK.IO cloud platform, now reaching more than 20 million subscribers across North America. The platform dynamically combines well over 1,000 live regional channels and has delivered tens of millions of viewing hours to date.

Multiview will also be explaining how it has evolved its offering from predefined layouts to more flexible, user-driven experiences. Comcast’s “Create Your Own Multiview”, introduced in late 2025, allows viewers to select layouts and dynamically combine live streams in real time.

During the show, MediaKind will discuss the development of Multiview further, including the evolution of “Create Your Own Multiview”, at the NAB Show Streaming Summit (#W209-W212) on Monday April 20 (2.45-3.45pm) in a session featuring MediaKind CEO, Allen Broome, alongside Joe Krell, VP Engineering, Comcast.

Mediakind will be exhibiting in the Las Vegas Convention Center from April 19 to 22 at Booth W1743

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter’s operating brand Spectrum has announced that the Spectrum TV App is now available on Google TV and other Android TV OS devices. The launch broadens access to pay TV streaming app and gives Spectrum customers even more ways to watch their Spectrum TV service.

"Launching the Spectrum TV App on Google TV and other Android TV OS devices expands how customers can enjoy Spectrum TV," said Elena Ritchie, Senior Vice President, Video at Spectrum. "It's another step in giving customers more choice and flexibility in how and where they watch."

Available for free to Spectrum TV customers, the app lets customers:

• Stream their Spectrum TV channel lineup with the ability to pause live TV
• Use the Multiview feature for select sports games
• Access Cloud DVR recordings
• View On Demand shows and movies

The app is available on Google TV and other Android TV OS devices running Android™ 10 for TV or later, including TVs manufactured by Hisense, Philips, Sony and TCL.

In addition to Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, the Spectrum TV App is available on Xumo Stream Box, as well as Amazon Fire TV devices, Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Tablets, LG smart TVs, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, VIZIO smart TVs, Xbox and Xumo TV.

NEW YORK—DoubleVerify has announced that Charter's ad sales operation Spectrum Reach has become the first partner to join DV’s Certified Transparent Streaming program, which delivers verified show-level reporting across streaming TV and CTV inventory.

DV announced DV Authentic Streaming TV in January. The solution combines the company’s verification and optimization capabilities to deliver granular pre-bid discovery, AI-powered performance activation and post-bid measurement across streaming TV and CTV environments.

As part of the deal with DV Spectrum Reach will share key show-level data across their programming including news and live sports, spanning both direct IO and programmatic buying. These insights will be available directly within DV Authentic Streaming TV reporting, which will give advertisers verified, post-bid visibility into the specific programs their ads ran alongside.

“Advertisers have made it clear that show-level transparency is not optional — it’s foundational to trust and performance in streaming TV,” said Todd Randak, GM of CTV at DoubleVerify. “By working with Spectrum Reach to enable compliant, program-level reporting at scale, we’re continuing to raise the standard for transparency while helping brands drive stronger outcomes. We expect to announce additional partners in the coming months as momentum builds around program-level transparency across the streaming TV ecosystem.”

DV’s Certified Transparent Streaming program allows publishers to share verified program- and episode-level data in streaming TV in a privacy-focused way. Built using clean room infrastructure, it enables publishers to contribute program-level data within a controlled environment where individual-level information remains under their control. Only aggregated, de-identified advertiser-ready outputs are shared.

“We’re bringing show-level transparency to premium streaming inventory, not just telling advertisers which app their ads ran in, but which program they ran alongside,” said Alexander Groysman, vice president, product management at Spectrum Reach. “This includes weather reports, local news, live sports and business programming. Spectrum Reach is enriching our content metadata with the granular signals advertisers have been asking for and integrating it directly into programmatic infrastructure. Our partnership with DoubleVerify ensures this transparency is delivered in a privacy-focused, scalable way that drives stronger outcomes for brands.”

To be certified, publishers must demonstrate that they can contribute content-level information in a compliant environment and meet DV’s criteria for data quality, consistency and transparency.

DV said that participation in the DV’s Certified Transparent Streaming program helps publishers in the following ways:

• Incentivize continued ad spending by providing trusted, program-level transparency.
• Increase yield by demonstrating premium context and quality.
• Reduce operational friction through fast, compliant reporting that eliminates one-off data pulls.
• Maintain control of sensitive data in a privacy-focused environment.
• These efforts establish a consistent, reliable foundation for transparency that aligns advertiser expectations with publisher needs.

More information is available at www.doubleverify.com.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications has announced the appointment of John Lee as Head of Intelligence Ventures, effective today.

Lee will lead a new dedicated team that will focus on advancing intelligence-driven products and partnerships built on the Company’s proprietary data signals and AI capabilities in a privacy-safe way. They will be tasked with developing scalable solutions for marketers, agencies, platforms and enterprises.

“John brings deep expertise building and scaling data-driven products, platforms and organizations across media, technology and advertising,” said Rich DiGeronimo, president, Product and Technology at Charter and to whom Lee will report. “He will help us expand the ways we utilize our unique data signals, technology and AI capabilities to develop new products and partnerships that drive growth and create new revenue streams.”

Prior to joining Charter, Lee founded Scout Data Advisors in 2024, an advisory firm that helps organizations create competitive advantage through data and AI. Previously, he was chief data officer at NBCUniversal from 2021, where he was responsible for developing and advancing the company’s enterprise consumer data strategy. Before that, he spent 13 years at Merkle, most recently as corporate chief strategy officer, where he led the company’s long-term strategic direction and product teams.

Lee brings nearly three decades of experience leading large-scale strategy, product, and data science organizations for global companies, with a focus on driving data-driven business results in media, commerce, advertising, and customer experience. In 2024, he was named to the DataIQ100, honoring the most influential leaders in data.

PHILADELPHIA & STAMFORD, Conn.—In an important example of how operators are looking to use AI to improve operations and develop new services, Comcast and Charter have issued separate announcements regarding tests and deployments of AI processing using technologies from NVIDIA.

The announcements illustrate how operators hope to test real-time AI applications running milliseconds from customers, unlock faster, more responsive experiences for the next wave of AI and improve the performance of low-latency, compute heavy applications like animated movie production, gaming and advertising in their networks.

Such applications could also give them a competitive advantage in the growing competition for broadband customers between cable operators and 5G fixed wireless.

In its announcement, Charter's Spectrum also highlighted how the deployment of AI technologies in its network could greatly improve and speed up the creation of animated movies and special effects. Spectrum's network serves the Hollywood and Los Angeles where many of those movies and special effects are produced.

Both announcements were made at NVIDIA’s GTC event in San Jose on March 17.

In its announcement, Comcast called its NVIDIA AI deployment a “a groundbreaking initiative to bring AI processing, using NVIDIA GPUs, closer to customers than ever before to accelerate the development of next-generation AI applications across America. The first-of-its-kind collaboration will test the performance of AI workloads running directly at the edge of Comcast’s network – in regional facilities located just milliseconds from where customers live and work.”

“The industry is shifting towards a more distributed AI infrastructure and Comcast operates a network that supports it today,” said Elad Nafshi, chief network officer, Comcast. “NVIDIA AI Grid vision requires intelligent infrastructure that reaches all the way to the customer’s doorstep. By bringing NVIDIA GPUs directly into our edge cloud, we can explore what becomes possible when AI inference happens only milliseconds from end users.”

“Distributed AI Grid is the next big opportunity for the telecommunications industry, and Comcast’s nationwide, deeply distributed network is a perfect match for building it,” said Ronnie Vasishta, senior vice president of AI and Telecoms, NVIDIA. “By bringing intelligent AI inference to the network edge, Comcast can unlock inherent cost efficiencies, while delivering deterministic, low‑latency experiences for customers at massively concurrent scale. This collaboration is powering the next era of hyper personalized experiences that run just milliseconds from users.”

The field trial takes advantage of Comcast’s nationwide, distributed architecture that reaches 65 million homes and businesses with the aim of showing how AI at the network edge can unlock faster, smarter, more responsive experiences. This, Comcast said, will translate into quicker apps, more relevant recommendations, smoother gaming, and AI-powered tools that respond instantly.

Comcast also noted that with advanced DOCSIS 4.0 FDX nodes, smart amplifiers, and intelligent gateways across its footprint, Comcast can support real-time AI inference at scale, something traditional centralized, fiber-only, or wireless networks cannot match.

As more AI workloads move from distant data centers to local edge locations, Comcast said that its architecture positions the company as a key contributor to the emerging AI Grid for the next generation of AI-driven services.

Comcast will initially focus on three use cases designed to showcase the benefits of running AI workloads at the network’s edge:

• Personalized Advertising Agent. This is an advanced ad-delivery engine powered by Decart real-time AI video models. Decart’s technology is capable of customizing video advertisements down to the household level using attributes such as language, content preferences, household size, or other non-sensitive demographic categories – enabling hyper-relevant experiences for viewers while improving efficiency for advertisers.
• Small Business Concierge Agent. Leveraging Personal AI’s small language model (SLM) and memory platform deployed on HPE ProLiant servers to deliver an AI-powered “front desk” service capable of greeting customers, managing appointments, answering questions, and supporting day-today-day operations for small businesses.
• Reducing Latency for Gaming. Delivering ultra-low latency streaming for online gaming, the AI Grid brings GPU resources physically closer to players. This can dramatically improve responsiveness and overall gameplay quality, building on the impact of the low-latency technology Comcast rolled out for NVIDIA GeForce NOW and other applications last year.

In a separate announcement by Charter’s Spectrum, the operator said it is deploying remote graphics processing units (GPUs) at the network edge to support latency-sensitive applications and compute-heavy use cases, using NVIDIA AI Grid reference design over Spectrum’s fiber broadband network.

More specifically, Spectrum is demonstrating enterprise-level, low-latency, remote NVIDIA AI infrastructure use cases built on NVIDIA RTX6000 PRO Blackwell Server Edition technology and a distributed AI Grid.

Spectrum reported that the solution enables animation artists to render blockbuster-level CGI with GPU compute resources located nearby at the edge of Spectrum’s fiber-powered broadband network. The proximity of Spectrum’s ECI to studios, coupled with 100 Gbps low-latency fiber network, extends the power of the NVIDIA AI Grid to remote workstations.

Creating a movie means rendering hundreds of thousands of images or “frames,” which are stitched together to create the whole story. Developing each frame requires a huge amount of processing power. Coupled with the fact that centralized cloud environments can introduce latency that affect time-sensitive graphics processing and AI workloads, this can be a challenging technical problem to solve.

Spectrum said that the deployment of NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs at the edge of Spectrum’s network means that customers gain faster, more reliable access to NVIDIA AI infrastructure, empowering CGI artists to more efficiently create visual stories on a massive scale.

“Spectrum is supporting the next wave of enterprise workloads by providing connectivity and infrastructure for real-time applications,” said Rich DiGeronimo, president, Product and Technology, Spectrum. “Our advantage is our footprint, with more than 1 million miles of infrastructure delivering gig or greater speeds to tens of millions of residential, business and enterprise customers. We have the scale to deliver the speed, low latency and reliability that higher performance GPU and AI applications require. Our work with NVIDIA shows how connectivity companies can bring real-time graphics rendering performance closer to where it’s needed – not just in the entertainment industry, but across all industries.”

More specifically, Spectrum said that the deployment leveraged NVIDIA’s AI Grid reference design, which provides operators with a unified hardware and software platform to build, deploy and manage GPUs and AI across distributed sites.

The collaboration leverages Spectrum’s fiber broadband network and ECI, with the capacity to scale to hundreds of MW of power from more than 1,000 edge data centers and hubs located less than 10 milliseconds, and in some cases less than five milliseconds, of 500 million devices in homes and businesses connected to Spectrum’s network.

This is important because new GPU and AI-native apps must operate with predictable latency, support high concurrency and deliver best cost per token at scale. This initial deployment showcases an extreme low-latency application with a uniquely decentralized Edge GPU solution.

“The shift to real-time, AI-native applications is driving the demand for distributed infrastructure that can deliver predictable low latency at scale,” said Chris Penrose, Global VP - Business Development - Telco at NVIDIA. “Spectrum’s fiber network and Edge Compute Infrastructure extends the power of the NVIDIA AI Grid to deliver performance where it is needed most—right where movies are made.”

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter announced today that it is launching a new multiview feature for March Madness, which begins this week.

The new Multiview feature in the Spectrum TV App, gives subscribers the ability to watch up to four NCAA men’s or women’s basketball games simultaneously during the tournament.

“The NCAA Tournament is the perfect time for basketball fans to experience the thrill of multiple games at once,” said Elena Ritchie, Senior Vice President, Video Product. “Multiview is all about making it easier for customers to catch every highlight and stay connected to the action.”

Multiview is available to customers using the Spectrum TV App on Xumo Stream Box, Xumo TV, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox, Samsung, LG and Vizio smart TVs. Customers must have a Spectrum TV package that includes the content being featured in Multiview. Curated Multiview options can be selected directly from the Spectrum TV App home screen, making it simple to follow multiple games in real time. When in Multiview, viewers can change which audio to listen to or select a game to go full screen on a single event.

Spectrum plans to expand the Multiview feature throughout the year to cover other major sporting events, including the NHL and NBA playoffs, the World Cup, college football and NFL games.

More information about the Spectrum TV App is available here.

The FCC on Friday approved Charter Communications’ $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Enterprises residential cable, commercial fiber, and managed IT and cloud businesses after the two companies agreed to upgrade their networks, increase domestic employment and drop their DEI policies.

The acquisition creates the nation’s largest cable TV and broadband provider with approximately 38 million subscribers, surpassing Comcast. The merger, announced in May 2025, combines Cox Communications, a division of Cox Enterprises—the largest privately held broadband company in the U.S.—with about 6.5 million total residential and commercial with Charter’s reported 31.2 million broadband customers.

The combined company will be renamed as Cox Communications within a year of the deal's close, and Charter's Spectrum will be the consumer brand.

In order for the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau to approve the deal, the two companies agreed to invest billions of dollars to upgrade its network and deliver high-speed service to homes and businesses nationwide, onshore all of the job functions currently handled off-shore by Cox within 18 months of approval and end what the FCC calls “DEI discrimination.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hailed the approval.

“This deal means that jobs are coming back to America that had been shipped overseas,” he said. “It means that modern, high-speed networks will get built out in more communities across rural America. And it means that customers will get access to lower priced plans. On top of this, the deal enshrines protections against DEI discrimination.”

Critics noted that the merger—which is expected to be completed by summer, will result in a broadband monopoly.

“The FCC approved the largest cable merger in nearly a decade and did not require Charter to do anything it wasn’t already planning to do,” John Bergmayer, legal director at the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, said in a statement. “Consumers, as always, will bear the costs of reduced competition.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez was more succinct:

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter's Spectrum operating brand has launched `Invincible WiFi’, a industry’s first WiFi 7 service with integrated battery and 5G cellular backup that is designed to provide customers with connectivity even during power outages.

“By integrating WiFi 7 with battery power and 5G backup, we make sure critical moments aren’t interrupted,” said Dave Rodrian, group vice president, WiFi Products. “Invincible WiFi means you can continue with movie night, businesses can take payments, and students can finish their homework even if the lights go out. Through wind, rain and snow, our customers can count on Spectrum Internet to be there when it matters most.”

Available to both residential and business customers, Invincible WiFi’s advanced technology and automated backup systems operate in the background, so customers’ devices remain seamlessly connected. If a home or business loses power, Invincible WiFi’s battery unit keeps the router running for up to eight hours. Invincible WiFi also comes with a backup 5G cellular connection, keeping customers online without interruption if a network disruption occurs.

The Invincible WiFi router supports the latest WiFi 7 technology, offering faster speeds, lower latency and improved performance for the growing number of devices in today’s homes and workplaces. Customers can easily set up and manage their WiFi with the My Spectrum App.

For residential customers, Invincible WiFi is included with Spectrum’s 2 Gig Internet service at no additional cost. It can be added to Spectrum Internet Gig service for $10/month or to any other Spectrum Internet package for $20/month. Similarly, Spectrum Business customers with 2 Gig Internet service receive Invincible WiFi at no additional cost and all other Spectrum Business customers can get Invincible WiFi for $30/month or add it to their existing WiFi service for an incremental $20/month.

More information about Spectrum's Invincible WiFi is available at Spectrum.com/StayConnected.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter’s Spectrum operating brand has announced it will award $1 million in Spectrum Digital Education grants in 2026, bringing the program’s total investment to more than $12 million since 2017.

As part of the initiative Spectrum Digital Education partners with local nonprofits to help community members build their digital skills and access the tools and devices they need to succeed in their education, careers and everyday lives. Nonprofits can apply between February 2 and February 27 here.

"Spectrum Digital Education is focused on removing real barriers by helping people build the digital skills required to apply for jobs, pursue education and manage essential online services,” said Rahman Khan, group vice president, community impact at the operator. “Through our nonprofit partnerships, we help turn connectivity into capability by creating pathways to opportunity and independence.”

Across Spectrum’s service area, Spectrum Digital Education supports nonprofits that help their community members – from seniors and veterans to students, working adults and families in need – access the digital education skills and tools they need to stay connected. Grants support initiatives like digital literacy programs, workforce readiness training, and efforts that provide donated or affordable laptops and other devices. Funding also helps power community tech spaces, like computer labs and learning hubs, where people can get hands-on support using online tools and services safely and effectively.

Since launching in 2017, Spectrum Digital Education has: Awarded 382 grants to 202 unique organizations; supported programs benefiting over 200,000 community members across 41 states; helped nonprofits issue more than 20,000 laptops and devices and sponsor nearly 50,000 digital education classes

Highlights from the 2025 Spectrum Digital Education grant cycle include:

• Adult Learning Center in Spartanburg, SC: Provides workforce training including GED prep, pre-employment testing and computer skills classes. Grant funding supports digital literacy programs that help adult learners build foundational skills tied to employment.
• The Science Zone in Casper, WY: Delivers hands-on STEAM education to youth across central Wyoming. Spectrum’s grant expands access to coding, robotics tools and interactive learning experiences.
• Project Hawaii in Hilo, HI: Supports homeless and at-risk youth in Hawaii. Grant funding powers a teen mentoring program that provides computers, technical training and a resource lounge focused on academic success and career readiness.
• Seniors in Service in Tampa Bay, FL: Connects volunteers aged 55 and older to serve seniors, veterans and children in the community. Spectrum’s grant supports digital education for older adults, including training on accessing essential online services.
• Loaves, Fishes & Computers in Salinas, CA: Provides low-cost devices and digital literacy to families. Grant funding supports computer refurbishment and skills training that puts functional technology into more homes.

To be eligible for a Spectrum Digital Education grant, organizations must serve communities within Spectrum’s 41-state service area and have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. More information on how to apply is available on the Spectrum Digital Education grants page.

DENVER—Charter Communications and Cox Communications have struck separate deals with Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) for its help in creating, managing and distributing linear channels for out-of-market games for MLB, NHL, NBA and other sports leagues.

Cox and Charter will rely on Comcast MediaOrigination, part of the Comcast Media360 portfolio, for backend video management, delivery and viewing rights enforcement to enable fans to watch their favorite teams outside of the local geographic areas where they play.

“Spectrum customers expect us to provide the best possible collection of premium sports content, including out-of-market games for their favorite teams,” said Tom Montemagno, Charter executive vice president of Programming Acquisition. “After securing our own content rights agreements with the leagues, it was imperative to have the right backend system in place to manage and deliver these sports experiences efficiently at scale, which is why we turned to Comcast Technology Solutions.”

Calling sports “the cornerstone” of its customers entertainment experience, Cox Communications senior vice president of Content Acquisition Mark Gathen said CTS “removes the technical complexity required to deliver out of market sports, allowing us to focus on offering exceptional sports entertainment subscriptions and viewing choices.”

Both MVPDs are committed to giving their customers “the best entertainment and action from all of the top sports leagues,” said Bart Spriester, CTS senior vice president and general manager of Streaming, Broadcast and Advertising.

“Enabling our customers to deliver premium live sports programming through our world-class CTS SportsHub facility and Comcast Media360 are key differentiators for CTS. These solutions allow operators, broadcasters and content owners to streamline their video operations, improve efficiency and position their businesses for long-term success in an increasingly dynamic sports media landscape,” he said.

Comcast Media360 is a managed service for the media and entertainment industry. It offers an integrated suite of technologies for comprehensive global video delivery, distribution and monetization across linear and on-demand platforms. Comcast MediaOrigination is part of the Comcast Media 360 portfolio. It provides the capabilities needed to acquire, prepare, create, package and deliver linear channels and video content across devices.

More information on Comcast MediaOrigination is available on the CTS website.

DENVER—Tom Rutledge, director emeritus and former president and CEO of Charter Communications, will be honored with the 2026 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award by The Cable Center’s Syndeo Institute .

Named for cable-industry pioneer William J. Bresnan, the Bresnan Award honors outstanding men and women in the cable industry who best exemplify Bresnan’s longstanding commitment to ethics in business and who demonstrate societal, community and philanthropic engagement, the Syndeo Institute said. Rutledge will receive the honor on April 23, 2026, at the Cable Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York.

“Tom is a true steward of our industry, leading three of the most preeminent and influential connectivity companies of the modern generation,” said Michael Willner, chairman and CEO of Panthera Partners and chairman of the Syndeo Institute board. “It is so special for me to see my close friend receive this peer recognition from our colleagues in the industry. I know first-hand how Tom’s commitment to philanthropy and giving back is truly remarkable.”

Rutledge was named president and CEO of Charter, the cable operator that does business under the Spectrum brand, in 2012 and left that post in 2022, when he was named executive chairman.

During Rutledge’s tenure at Stamford, Conn.-based Charter, the company completed mergers with then-No. 2 U.S. cable operator Time Warner Cable as well as Bright House Networks and Altice USA’s Optimum West operation. The company also established an all-digital cable TV and streaming platform, gigabit broadband service and launched the Spectrum consumer brand as well as its Spectrum Mobile product.

During his long cable-operator career, he also served as chief operating officer of Cablevision Systems, where he ran the company’s cable operation; programmer Rainbow Media (later spun off as AMC Networks); Clearview Cinemas; and Long Island newspaper Newsday.

Rutledge began his career in cable in 1977 as a manager trainee at American Television and Communications (ATC), a predecessor of Time Warner Cable, and rose through that company’s ranks to become president of TWC in 2001.

He is a former chairman of both CableLabs and NCTA–The Internet & Television Association and serves on the board of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In 2011, he received the NCTA Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership and is a member of both the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame and a 2009 Cable Hall of Fame member.

“Throughout his career, Tom’s leadership was grounded in ethics, community, and service,” said Diane Christman, president and CEO, Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center. “His work and dedication to ethics have strengthened our industry, and we are pleased to honor him with this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.”

The 29th Cable Hall of Fame will be held April 23 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York. For more information, click here.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand has expanded the range of devices that can offer 4K content on the Spectrum TV app to compatible Apple TV 4K and Roku devices.

The Spectrum TV app's 4K content is already available on the Xumo Stream Box, which is a joint venture between Charter and Comcast.

The move will give Spectrum TV customers with Apple TV and Roku devices access to 4K content when it is being offered by ESPN, Fox and NBC.

"With the addition of Apple TV 4K and Roku, more Spectrum customers can enjoy the clarity that 4K brings, all within the Spectrum TV App," said Elena Ritchie, senior vice president, video at Spectrum. "Viewers can experience their favorite 4K live events with stunning picture quality, vibrant colors, and razor-sharp detail, making their viewing experience more immersive and enjoyable."

In the upcoming weeks, Spectrum said that the following 4K programming would be available:

• ESPN College Football's 4K Game of the Week, with select games in 4K throughout the season
• FOX's Big Noon Kickoff, select Saturdays during the college football season (check local listings)
• Syracuse vs. Notre Dame college football, November 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC
• Indiana vs. Purdue college football, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC
• Spectrum TV customers can find available 4K content in a dedicated section on the home screen of the Spectrum TV App. Additionally, when using a Xumo Stream Box, customers viewing HD content that is also available in 4K will be prompted with an on-screen message providing the option to switch to the 4K channel.

To watch 4K content through the Spectrum TV App, Spectrum said that customers need a Spectrum TV package that includes access to the ESPN, Fox or NBC network carrying the 4K event. Additionally, they must have a 4K TV connected to a Xumo Stream Box, Apple TV 4K 2nd generation and later, or compatible Roku TV or Roku streaming device, using a 4K-supporting HDMI cable. The picture resolution settings on the device should be set to 4K or 2160p, depending on the device.

STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK—Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charter's strategic GenAI providers.

Charter reported that the “comprehensive agreement will transform Charter's software development capabilities and operational efficiency through advanced artificial intelligence solutions.”

As part of the new agreement, Charter has standardized its software development processes to leverage GitLab Duo with Amazon Q Developer, AWS's generative AI-powered assistant for building, operating, and transforming software development.

The platform features agentic coding experiences and advanced capabilities for managing data and AI/ML workloads. GitLab Duo with Amazon Q Developer will enable Charter to accelerate new features and software development, directly enhancing experiences for Spectrum Internet, TV and Mobile customers.

“Innovative technology from AWS provides opportunities to both leverage developer tools and build agentic solutions across the company,” said Jake Perlman, executive vice president, chief technology and information officer at Charter Communications. “AWS technology enables us to develop AI-powered solutions that enhance our capabilities, ultimately improving customer experience, employee experience, and the overall performance and reliability of our services. We look forward to continued collaboration with AWS applying AI across our business.”

Charter also reported that its strategic collaboration with AWS extends beyond software development. Both companies also plan on working together to implement agentic AI solutions across Charter's operations. These initiatives are designed to deliver exceptional experiences, reliability, and connectivity to Spectrum residential and business customers as well as employees.

"Q Developer represents the cutting edge of AI-powered software development, enabling developers to build faster and more efficiently than ever before," said Jan Hofmeyr, vice president of telecommunications at AWS. "We're excited to see Charter leverage Amazon Q Developer's capabilities and access to Claude Sonnet 4.5, and we look forward to introducing them to additional solutions like Kiro, our AI companion offering that further enhances the development experience. This collaboration demonstrates how generative AI can transform enterprise software development at scale."

STAMFORD, Conn. —Charter Communications’ Spectrum News has reached a deal with Comcast to expand distribution of its local news channels to Xfinity TV customers in Connecticut, Northern New Jersey and Orlando and Tampa, Fla.

Spectrum News had previously launched in California in response to the Los Angeles wildfires and, under the deal, will remain available to Xfinity TV customers throughout the state, with local news for viewers in Sacramento and San Francisco.

The launches will create more local news competition for broadcasters in those markets. The Xfinity launch is part of an ongoing effort to expand the reach of the local and regional versions of Spectrum News, which were originally available only in certain markets serviced by Charter's Spectrum footprint.

“We are always looking for ways to bring our community-driven reporting to even more people, and this is an exciting opportunity to reach new viewers in some of the country's largest markets,” said Mike Bair, executive vice president of Spectrum Networks. “Unbiased local journalism is a key pillar of our society and, while local news coverage across the country is shrinking, Spectrum News is expanding to provide more access when people need it most.”

In the coming weeks, various local versions of Spectrum News will become available in these Xfinity markets:

• Spectrum News NY1 will be made available to Xfinity TV customers in northern New Jersey and Connecticut.
• Spectrum News 13 will launch to Xfinity TV customers in Orlando.
• Spectrum Bay News 9 will be seen by Xfinity TV customers in Tampa.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Spectrum, the broadband arm of Charter Communications, today announced a successful joint demonstration of next-generation Wi-Fi technology with Broadcom, achieving peak throughput of nearly 10 Gbps to a single Wi-Fi device.

This was achieved by combining the full 6-GHz band with 125 MHz of spectrum in the 7.125–7.25 GHz band. Presented at SCTE TechExpo25 in Washington, D.C., the demonstration took place in the NCTA booth on the show floor and will be available for viewing throughout the event.

The live demonstration showcased how an additional 125 MHz of unlicensed spectrum could be combined with the full 6-GHz band to enable four 320-MHz channels or two 640 MHz channels, unlocking the speed, capacity and reliability needed to meet Americans’ record-shattering wireless data consumption and the growing number of connected devices in homes across the country, Spectrum said.

Using this technology across this band of spectrum will enable speeds approaching 20 Gbps to Wi-Fi devices like mobile phones, AR/VR devices, gaming systems, and computers, Spectrum said, ensuring that Wi-Fi in U.S. homes and businesses does not become a bottleneck for the high-speed broadband infrastructure being deployed across the country. This demonstration was showcased alongside Spectrum’s award-winning Advanced Wi-Fi 7 routers, which support 320 MHz-wide channels.

“This milestone highlights the power of combining Wi-Fi 7 technology with forward-looking spectrum policy,” Spectrum Executive Vice President, Technology Strategy and Innovation Justin Colwell said. “Proactive spectrum decisions need to be made to both maintain America’s technological leadership and allow providers and manufacturers to keep pace with evolving and intensifying consumer demands. Together with Broadcom, we are showing what is possible when we combine the unparalleled success of 6-GHz Wi-Fi with adjacent 7 GHz unlicensed spectrum.”

The results highlight how spectrum policy directly drives innovation and demonstrate a critical opportunity for the U.S. government to propel its American-grown technology and industry to achieve global connectivity leadership, Spectrum said. By enabling new unlicensed allocations above 7.125 GHz, regulators can ensure that U.S. consumers and businesses are the first to benefit from the next era of wireless performance.

“Broadcom is proud to partner with Spectrum to showcase next-gen WiFi performance that matches the fastest wired broadband speeds,” said Manny Patel, vice president of marketing for Broadcom’s Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division. “This demonstration underscores how additional unlicensed spectrum in the 7 GHz band is critical to enabling 10 Gigabit and beyond whole-home coverage.”

The demo is being held in the NCTA booth on the show floor (Booth F600) during the show, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

NEW YORK—Spectrum Reach, the advertising unit of Charter Communications, has announced the full market availability of a new AI-powered advertising platform called Spectrum Reach Architect. The launch follows a six-month trial with 2,000 local advertisers.

Spectrum reported that the proprietary, AI-driven platform is designed to simplify media planning for advertisers by delivering TV, digital and streaming recommendations that help campaigns achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

"Our direct connections to over 30 million U.S. households give us the ability to provide advertisers, agencies and marketers with actionable insights that they can’t get anywhere else,” Spectrum Reach Executive Vice President Jason Brown said. “With Spectrum Reach Architect, we can optimize and provide recommendations to advertisers that are applicable to their specific campaigns, whether big or small, to drive even greater campaign effectiveness with unparalleled precision.”

Spectrum Reach Architect uses the historical performance of tens of thousands of campaigns and draws from Spectrum Reach’s exclusive, privacy-focused first-party data insights, including from the Spectrum TV App. The service draws on that information to give advertisers customized media-planning recommendations, ensuring budgets are allocated effectively and ads reach their intended audience with the right frequency.

Spectrum also said that the platform's AI-powered insights grow even more refined over time, enabling advertisers to better plan campaigns in a dynamic, fragmented advertising market.

For example, Joseph Delk IV, an attorney who owns the Delk 4 Law firm in Lenoir, N.C., worked with his Spectrum Reach account executive to use Architect to tailor his local ad campaign, which started in June. “The real-time demonstration of Spectrum Reach Architect was a game-changer,” Delk said. “It showed me the breakdown of my marketing plan and delivered a tailored proposal for my business. I could see exactly how my budget would be optimized for maximum reach and frequency. I’m excited about the AI integration and can’t wait to see the added value it brings to my campaign.”

More information about Spectrum Reach’s campaign planning tools is available at spectrumreach.com.

STAMFORD, Conn. —Amid a growing number of attacks on critical telecommunications infrastructure across the country, Charter Communications said its Spectrum operations in Missouri have suffered a 200% year-over-year increase in felony attacks through July on network infrastructure that has cut off services and impacted redundancy for homes, businesses and emergency services.

“Our teams work tirelessly to provide the highest level of service and reliability to our customers and these felony, criminal attacks cause outages that go far beyond the inconvenience of lost connectivity,” Charter Executive Vice President of Field Operations Tom Monaghan said. “The impact is that of domestic terrorism, cutting off access to critical services, preventing vital communications during times of emergency and crisis, creating a pervasive and persistent threat to families and businesses in Missouri and across the country. This criminal activity must not be allowed to continue. We need the continued support of law enforcement, an increased commitment to prosecuting the criminals behind these attacks and help from the public by reporting suspicious activity when they see it.”

The problems in Missouri follow a June 15 attack on a Spectrum communications network in Van Nuys, Calif., that the company also described as an act of domestic terrorism.

The early morning attack, which severed 13 cables, including more than 2,600 individual fibers, disrupted connectivity and impacted redundancy to emergency services, including a U.S. military base, emergency dispatch and 911 communication services, local fire and police departments, financial institutions, court buildings, health care facilities and hospitals, educational institutions and cell towers providing mobile services. In total, more than 50,000 residential customers and more than 500 business customers were affected for up to 30 hours.

Those attacks come as the telecommunications industry has been reporting a notable increase in critical infrastructure attacks impacting telecommunications providers across the country. Between June and December of 2024, the collective industry suffered nearly 6,000 intentional incidents of critical communications infrastructure attacks putting access to life-saving public resources at risk.

That has also prompted a political push by the industry to increase penalties and enforcement.

Thus far, 28 states—including Missouri—have passed legislation making these attacks on critical communications infrastructure felony offenses. Eleven states have passed such measures this year.

In Missouri, Charter reported that emergency services, emergency dispatch and 911 communication services, local fire and police departments, federal agencies, financial institutions, court buildings, healthcare facilities and hospitals, educational institutions, as well as cell towers providing mobile services, have all been impacted by one or more of the 148 outages recorded just by Spectrum in Missouri this year.

“These attacks are more than mere acts of vandalism; they are disrupting access to critical emergency services and creating potentially life-threatening situations,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the St. Louis field office. “Combating this threat requires a coordinated effort, and we urge the public to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. Together, we can help bring those responsible for endangering public safety to justice.”

To thwart this growing threat, Spectrum also announced that it is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information related to these criminal infrastructure attacks that lead to an arrest. Anyone with information can contact Spectrum at 833-404-TIPS (8477) or reach out to local law enforcement.

LIVONIA, Mich.—Spectrum News has expanded its reach with the launch of Spectrum News Michigan.

Available to Spectrum TV customers across the state on channel 1, Spectrum News Michigan is available 24/7. It features local headlines every 30 minutes at the top and bottom of each hour, and hyperlocal weather forecasts every 10 minutes on the ones. It is also available to Spectrum customers via the Spectrum News App on mobile, Xumo Stream Box, Roku and Apple TV.

Executive producer Craig Huber, a Michigan native with more than three decades of journalism experience, will lead the new network.

Spectrum News Michigan serves customers of Charter Communications-owned Spectrum with reporters embedded in key communities throughout the state. The new linear network features reporting from Michigan-based journalists as well as relevant stories from across the country.

“From Metro Detroit to West Michigan and Up North, Spectrum News delivers meaningful journalism,” Huber sad. “As a native of the Mitten State, I know Spectrum News’ community-focused storytelling will resonate with our audience.”

Huber grew up in Hartland Township, Mich., and began his journalism career in 1993. He spent seven years at Spectrum News in Texas. Joining the network is journalist Brian Farber, who will report on the community in and around Grand Rapids, Mich., an area he has covered since 1998.

In 2024, Spectrum News averaged 1.76 million daily viewing households across its linear and digital platform. Spectrum News has continued to expand its reach in recent years, launching several local linear TV news networks, a national streaming news network.

Among its launches are FAST channel Spectrum News+; national Spanish-language news network Spectrum Noticias; and a mobile news app currently with more than 4 million downloads. It also has created three digital local news operations and a local connected TV news app on Xumo Stream Box, Roku and Apple TV.

More information is available on the Spectrum Local News website.

Charter Communications and Cox Communications announced today that the two companies will merge in a deal valued at $34.5 billion. The transaction—which consists of $21.9 billion in equity with $12.6 billion in net debt—combines the nation’s second- and fourth-largest broadband providers with an estimated 36.5 million broadband subscribers. If approved, the merger could make it the nation’s largest cable-based broadband provider, leapfrogging Comcast’s 32 million.

Cox Communications, a division of Cox Enterprises, is the largest privately held broadband company in the U.S., with about 6.5 million total residential and commercial customers. Charter reported 30 million broadband customers at the end of the first quarter.

Under the agreement, Charter will acquire Cox’s commercial fiber, IT, and cloud businesses, while Cox’s residential cable operations will be contributed to Charter Holdings, an existing Charter partnership. In exchange, Cox Enterprises will receive $4 billion in cash, $6 billion in convertible preferred units and 33.6 million common units in Charter Holdings, giving it about 23% ownership in the combined company post-closing. The transaction is contingent on regulatory and shareholder approvals and is expected to close alongside the Liberty Broadband merger, announced last fall.

If approved, the new entity will become Cox Communications and the combined company will have a wider national footprint. Charter has subscribers in 41 states, making it available to 57 million homes and businesses. Cox Communications provides broadband services across 18 U.S. states, with a strong presence in the South, Southwest, and select East Coast regions.

Charter’s Spectrum will become the consumer-facing brand within the communities Cox serves. The combined company will remain headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and will maintain a significant presence on Cox’s Atlanta campus following the closing.

The merger is the latest indication of the pressure the cable TV industry has been under for the past decade, as cord-cutting has decimated its video business and wireless providers increasingly market 5G wireless alternatives. Although cable broadband still reigns nationwide with 76.1 million subscribers, Fixed Wireless Access, (aka 5G wireless services) provided by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have approximately 11.5 million subscribers nationwide and is the fastest growing market segment.

Both Charter and Cox also provide mobile broadband services, with Charter reporting 10.5 million mobile lines as of March 31. Although Cox doesn’t report wireless subscribers, its Cox Mobile service is available in 19 states and Washington, D.C., making it available to 7 million subscribers nationwide.

Following the merger, Charter president and CEO Chris Winfrey will lead the combined company and Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, will join the board as Chairman. Eric Zinterhofer, chairman of Charter’s Board of Directors will become the lead independent director on Charter’s board.

“We’re honored that the Cox family has entrusted us with its impressive legacy and are excited by the opportunity to benefit from the terrific operating history and community leadership of Cox,” said Chris Winfrey, President and CEO of Charter. “Cox and Charter have been innovators in connectivity and entertainment services—with decades of work and hundreds of billions of dollars invested to build, upgrade and expand our complementary regional networks to provide high-quality internet, video, voice and mobile services.

“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products, delivered with outstanding customer service, to millions of homes and businesses,” Winfrey continued. “We will continue to deliver high-value products that save American families money, and we’ll onshore jobs from overseas to create new, good-paying careers for U.S. employees that come with great benefits, career training and advancement, and retirement and ownership opportunities.”

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications, Inc. has named Jake Perlman executive vice president, chief technology and information officer (CTIO).

In this newly created role, Perlman will expand his existing duties leading the software development and IT team to now include oversight of the connectivity technology and technology operations organizations. This will fully integrate software, engineering and technology operations

Perlman will continue to be based in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

“To deliver seamless connectivity and entertainment across our converged mobile, WiFi, internet and video products requires greater integration of our network and software platforms,” said Rich DiGeronimo, president, product and technology, to whom Perlman will continue to report. “Adding the Connectivity Technology and Technology Operations teams under Jake’s leadership will accelerate high quality technology delivery and improve the experiences for our customers and employees. Jake possesses the ideal blend of architectural vision and detail orientation, and he has a relentless pursuit of root cause to drive scaled architectural change, which is a critical attribute for continuous improvement.”

Perlman has a long history of technology delivery and operations leadership, Charter said in making the announcement.

He joined Charter in 2016 after serving as the chief information officer (CIO) of Bright House Networks. He has held multiple senior technology leadership roles at Charter, including SVP of software development, where he led the services development of the top-rated Spectrum TV App as well as the launch of Advanced Home WiFi.

Perlman has been EVP, software development and IT for the past four years, leading multiple development and operations organizations including service experience technology that builds and operates customer and employee tools; artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms, Spectrum Mobile and Spectrum Business systems, compute platforms, cybersecurity, labs and integration testing, software architecture, and internal IT.

He spent much of his earlier career at Qwest and CenturyLink (now Lumen), rotating through various areas of information technology while gaining increasingly senior roles.

Perlman serves on the National Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of the USA, and he holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications' Spectrum has announced that veteran advertising executive David Kline, who is currently executive vice president at Charter and president of Spectrum Reach, will retire in May.

The company also announced that Kline will be succeeded in May by Jason Brown, Spectrum Reach’s current senior vice president and chief revenue officer. The two executives will work closely together over the next months to ensure a seamless transition.

Kline is a well-known industry figure who has been involved in a host of innovations in the ad and ad tech space during his long 46-year career that have helped shape the advertising landscape across traditional, digital and streaming platforms.

As an executive at Charter, Cablevision (now Altice USA), Ensequence and Visible World (now FreeWheel), he spearheaded the launches of many industry firsts, including linear household addressability, interactive TV applications at scale, and data-infused media campaigns using automation and multi-screen deterministic attribution.

Other innovations include deployment of programmatic advertising across political ads in the 2024 election cycle and the re-selling of local inventory from some of the largest streaming services inside Spectrum’s footprint. Additionally, Spectrum Reach has modernized its total ad infrastructure and platforms to transact media campaigns in impressions, as well as traditional ratings across all platforms.

Since Kline joined the Company in 2015, Spectrum Reach has dramatically grown its advertising business into a nearly $2 billion annual P&L business providing solutions for local, regional and national advertisers to deliver effective, addressable and programmatic campaigns across multiple platforms, Charter reported.

"David is an industry pioneer whose visionary leadership and relentless dedication have been instrumental in transforming Spectrum Reach into an advertising powerhouse,” said Rich DiGeronimo, Charter’s president, Product and Technology. “His contributions continue to drive our success, and his strong relationships have helped us set new standards in and for the industry. He leaves a lasting legacy, and we wish him the absolute best in his well-deserved retirement."

When Kline retires in May, Brown will be responsible for all advertising sales, marketing, product and technology operations for Spectrum Reach. The Reach organization operates in 36 states and 91 markets, with nearly 3,000 employees across the country, providing customized advertising solutions for over 23,000 local, regional and national clients.

“Jason’s deep experience, forward-looking mindset and demonstrated ability to drive revenue growth in the dynamic advertising landscape will be instrumental as Spectrum Reach continues shaping the future of advertising on streaming and linear TV,” added DiGeronimo, to whom Brown will report. “Jason will be an invaluable asset to drive Spectrum Reach to create new growth opportunities and to remain the provider of choice by delivering data-driven, highly targeted and customized advertising solutions for our clients."

Brown joined Spectrum Reach in 2023 and brings nearly three decades of experience in the advertising sales space. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, advertising sales at DirecTV Advertising, where he oversaw all revenue lines for DirecTV and DirecTV Stream products. Prior to the relaunch of DirecTV Advertising, he led sales efforts for WarnerMedia’s addressable business as senior vice president, addressable, local, and political, and was chief revenue officer for Xandr, the advertising and analytics division of AT&T.

Before Xandr, Mr. Brown served as senior vice president, national and local sales for DirecTV from 2012-2019. For the decade prior, he held various executive leadership roles in the media and sales industry, innovating marketplace models for networks in industries such as cinema and digital place-based media. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Skidmore College in New York.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand has announced that it is now accepting applications for Spectrum Scholars, the cable operator’s annual scholarship and professional development program for college students with financial need.

Charter has awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarships through Spectrum Scholars since 2020.

Each of the 15 students selected for the 2025-2026 class, the fifth class of Spectrum Scholars, will receive a $20,000 scholarship to be distributed between their junior and senior years. They’ll also participate in a two-year professional development program in which they will be paired with a Spectrum employee mentor and complete a paid internship with the cable operator, which was recently recognized by RippleMatch’s Campus Forward Awards for excellence in internship programming.

“Spectrum Scholars is more than just a scholarship program; it's a pathway to career success,” said Paul Marchand, executive vice president, chief human resources officer at Charter “From getting paired with an employee mentor to a paid internship with Spectrum, this comprehensive program offers real-world learning experiences, professional development and unique opportunities for career exploration.”

More specifically, Spectrum said that throughout the two-year program, the Scholars meet with their mentors to discuss their professional goals, tackle challenges and identify potential career opportunities. Students also take part in a paid 10-week internship at one of Spectrum’s corporate offices in Stamford, Charlotte, St. Louis, Denver or Austin. For some participants, these internships lead to postgraduation employment with the cable MSO.

Sarah Velez, for example, entered the Spectrum Scholars program in 2022 and joined the company as a marketing operations analyst intern at its Stamford headquarters in the summer of 2023. Throughout her internship, she focused on building a network within the company, meeting with various marketing teams to understand their roles and establish relationships. Upon graduating from the University of Connecticut last May, Velez accepted a full-time position with Spectrum as a marketing associate.

More information about how to apply for the fifth class of Spectrum Scholars, as well as program eligibility and selection criteria, is available here. The deadline for applications is April 4 and winners will be announced in the summer.

PHILADELPHIA—The Xumo streaming joint venture of Comcast and Charter Communications said Sharp will introduce a new line of QLED 4K UHD TVs featuring the Xumo TV operating system. The TVs will launch in the U.S. this spring.

Sharp is now the fourth manufacturer producing Xumo TVs, joining Element, Hisense and Pioneer.

The TVs will be available in 50-, 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch screen-class sizes and are designed to make it easier for consumers to find content.

“Xumo’s platform is all about making streaming easy for customers—getting them to the content they want to watch faster and spending less time searching across apps to find something new,” Stephanie Cassi, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Xumo, said. “We believe that combining our intuitive user interface with Sharp AQUOS QLED creates a best-in-class viewing experience.”

[Also Read: More TV Tech Coverage of News From CES]

“As we continue to expand our presence in the U.S. TV market, we're looking to pair Sharp AQUOS QLED with an operating system that delivers a streaming experience that meets the demanding needs of today's viewers," added Jim Sanduski, president of Sharp Home Electronics Company of America. “Xumo is the perfect partner because they help unlock the overall immersive experience we'd like our customers to enjoy when watching our AQUOS QLED TVs.”

The Xumo TV experience is built on the entertainment operating system that powers tens of millions of devices from Comcast and partners worldwide. Key features include seamless content discovery, voice search and personalization.

In addition to the Xumo operating system, the Sharp AQUOS QLED TVs will offer a frameless, 4K UHD screen with Quantum Dot Wide Color Gamut technology, which enhances Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 content to look lifelike with near-perfect color reproduction.

The TV will also enable the pass-through of Dolby Atmos sound from supported content sources when connected to a compatible audio device.

PHILADELPHIA and ANCHORAGE, Alaska—GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications provider, and Xumo, the streaming joint venture of Comcast and Charter Communications, said GCI is launching Xumo Stream Box for its internet customers.

GCI is offering the 4K Xumo Stream Box for free to its internet customers or for a retail price of $59.99.

“We’re excited to bring the Xumo Stream Box to GCI customers as we head into the heart of the holiday season,” GCI chief marketing officer Kate Slyker said. “With this new device, customers can have access to hundreds of free channels, as well as a very easy-to-use remote, making it easier than ever to find and watch their favorite programming.”

GCI joins Charter, Comcast, Cox Communications and Mediacom Communications as the fifth U.S. cable operator to offer the Entertainment OS-powered Xumo Stream Box.

Entertainment OS is built upon the same global technology platform that delivers entertainment experiences to customers across Comcast, Sky, Xumo and its syndication partners, and processes 15 billion entertainment-related voice commands a day through its voice search technology.

Xumo describes the boxes’ key features as follows:

• Customers can search for a show or movie by saying its name into the included voice remote, and Xumo Stream Box will search across available apps and services to find it.
• Xumo Stream Box uses both AI-driven personalization and a team of editors to surface content recommendations within the experience, helping customers find something to watch without having to jump in and out of apps.
• Xumo Stream Box comes preloaded with hundreds of streaming apps, including live streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and Fubo, as well as top streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Max, Peacock and hundreds more.
• With “My List,” Xumo users can build personalized viewing lists for every member of the family. With just one click, customers can add any show or movie available on Xumo Stream Box to a specific list, giving them a quick way to find what to watch next.
• The built-in channel guide makes browsing through Xumo Play’s 350-plus free live channels, spanning live local and national news, movies, sports, reality shows, crime TV, kids programming and more, a seamless part of the experience.
• By saying “free” into the voice remote, customers will find thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows from apps like Tubi, Pluto TV and Xumo Play.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications’ Spectrum brand has named Keith Dardis senior vice president, business sales and operations, leading newly combined business units serving small- and medium-sized business customers and large, enterprise-level companies.

Dardis, who previously oversaw Spectrum Community Solutions, assumes the new role effective immediately and will be based in Stamford.

“By combining Spectrum Enterprise and Business sales and operations under Keith’s leadership, we will be able to fully leverage our portfolio of products and services, providing the best solutions to meet all of our business customers’ specific needs,” said Adam Ray, executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Charter Communications, to whom Dardis will continue to report.

A 30-year industry veteran, Dardis has led Spectrum Community Solutions, Spectrum’s multi-unit dwelling (MDU) business, since 2021 after several years overseeing the MSO’s residential and business direct sales and strategic channel sales. Prior to Charter, he held several sales leadership roles at Sprint (now T-Mobile), including vice president of Northeast business, regional sales director and director of business application sales, and was head of U.S. sales at Bluewater Information Convergence. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Villanova University.

As part of the reorganization, Adam Moore has been promoted to succeed Dardis as senior vice president, Spectrum Community Solutions, after serving as group vice president.

Moore will oversee sales and delivery of Spectrum’s internet, Wi-Fi, video and voice solutions to multifamily apartment buildings and single-family bulk residences across its 41-state footprint.

“Adam will play a pivotal role in delivering the solutions that will enable multifamily and bulk single-family property managers to provide their residents with the fastest, most-reliable internet, voice and video connections,” Ray said.

Moore joined Charter in 2009 as manager, product management and has held a variety of product and customer service roles within the company. He began his career in engineering and product management at Mercedes-Benz USA and Crocs Footwear. He holds a bachelor’s degree in integrated business and engineering from Lehigh University.

Charter Communications has agreed to pay a $1.1 million fine to the Federal Communications Commission for violations of emergency alert regulations and has entered into a consent decree with the agency to avoid further violations.

The action stems from a September 2022 FCC order adopting new EAS rules. This order required EAS participants to use text and audio from alerts issued in the Internet-based Common Alert Protocol (CAP) format, if it is available from the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, in preference to the EAS protocol version received over the air.

The FCC order said the CAP-formatted alerts produce higher-quality audio messages, improve the availability of multilingual alerts and ensure that more of the alerts displayed on television screens contain all of the information provided. The changes also replaced the technical jargon that accompanied certain alerts, including test messages, with plain-language terms so the visual and audio messages are clearer to the public.

These rule changes required EAS participants to update their EAS equipment to comply with the rule changes by Dec. 12, 2023.

The FCC said that on Oct. 3, 2023, Charter notified the Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) that Charter’s EAS devices at approximately three dozen cable headends, which provide EAS alerts to more than 1 million Charter customers, would be out of service for the Oct. 4, 2023, nationwide EAS test.

Charter said the EAS devices had been taken out of service as part of its process of upgrading in anticipation of the Dec. 12, 2023 date for compliance with the changes to the EAS rules.

Charter had asserted that because it knew it would meet the December compliance deadline and believed in good faith that it had 60 days under the FCC’s rules to replace its noncompliant equipment, Charter did not respond to PSHSB’s inquiries about the problem. Charter also asserts it was given no reason to believe, after it submitted its notification to PSHSB, that the company was not in compliance with the EAS rules, the FCC reported.

Following an investigation, the FCC concluded that Charter’s EAS Devices were not “defective” under section 11.35(b) during the period Charter took them offline and began negotiating a settlement with Charter.

As part of the settlement, Charter agreed to pay the fine and put measures in place to avoid future problems. That consent decree is available here.

STAMFORD, Conn. and ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Charter Communications said it has entered into a deal to acquire Liberty Broadband in an all-stock transaction, a move intended to simplify the media holdings of Liberty Broadband’s controlling shareholder, John Malone.

Liberty Broadband is the largest shareholder in Charter, the largest U.S. pay TV provider, which does business under the Spectrum brand. Its major assets include about 45.6 million shares in Charter as well as Alaskan telecommunications company GCI, which will be spun off when the acquisition of Liberty Broadband is complete.

The deal comes as Malone, a pioneer of the U.S. cable industry and chairman of Liberty Broadband, is moving to streamline his media and telecom assets. On Wednesday (Nov. 13), Malone-controlled Liberty Media said it would split into two companies, one focused on sports and the other on live entertainment, The Wall Street Journal reported. As part of the spinoff, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei will step down.

“We are pleased to announce this agreement today with Liberty Broadband. I am grateful for Liberty Broadband’s strategic partnership since 2013, and particularly for the support of John Malone, Greg Maffei and our Liberty Broadband-nominated board members,” Charter president and CEO Chris Winfrey said in a statement. “We look forward to their continued partnership and support in the coming years in driving value for our shareholders.”

Added Malone: “Today’s announced transaction will rationalize Liberty Broadband’s trading discount and ultimately provide our shareholders with enhanced liquidity. The transaction closing timeline reflects my belief in Charter’s operating strategy under the excellent leadership of Chris Winfrey and team and the value creation opportunity for both Charter and Liberty shareholders. I look forward to that continued upside, and to holding Charter shares after the merger closing.”

Under the agreement, each holder of Liberty Broadband Series A, B and C common stock, will receive 0.236 of a share of Charter common stock per share of Liberty Broadband common stock held, with cash to be issued for fractional shares. Each holder of Liberty Broadband Series A cumulative redeemable preferred stock will receive one share of newly issued Charter cumulative redeemable preferred stock per Liberty Broadband share, with the Charter preferred stock substantially mirroring the current terms of the Liberty Broadband preferred stock, Charter reported.

As a result of the transaction, Charter expects to retire about 45.6 million Charter shares currently owned by Liberty Broadband and to issue roughly 34.0 million shares to holders of Liberty Broadband common stock at closing, resulting in a net decrease of about 11.5 million Charter shares outstanding. Liberty Broadband has existing debt of $2.6 billion (excluding debt at GCI) that will be repaid prior to closing or assumed by Charter, and $180 million of preferred equity that will become Charter preferred equity following the deal’s close, the companies said.

John Malone and certain related holders have agreed to vote, subject to certain exceptions, shares beneficially owned by them, representing about 48% of the aggregate voting power of Liberty Broadband, in favor of the transaction, the companies said.

Maffei and certain related Liberty shareholders have agreed to vote, subject to certain exceptions, shares beneficially owned by them, representing about 4% of the aggregate voting power of Liberty Broadband, in favor of the transaction.

“We are pleased to have reached definitive terms with Charter and provide Liberty shareholders with certainty of a future transaction at an attractive exchange ratio,“ Maffei said. “This transaction simplifies our corporate structure and allows our shareholders to participate in Charter’s upside through direct ownership of the equity.

“In connection with the transaction, we expect GCI will become an independent public company prior to close, Liberty has had a great partnership with Ron Duncan and GCI management since 2018 and will continue to participate in value creation opportunities for the business,” Maffei added. “Reaching this agreement was an important milestone in my leadership of the company, and I will be stepping down from my role as Liberty Broadband CEO at the end of this year. I look forward to continuing as a director of Charter and a meaningful shareholder.”

Centerview Partners is the exclusive financial adviser to Charter’s special committee, with Citi serving as Charter’s exclusive financial adviser. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as the special committee’s legal counsel. J.P. Morgan is the exclusive financial adviser to Liberty Broadband, with O’Melveny & Myers serving as its legal counsel.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Spectrum has promoted Elena Ritchie to senior vice president of video. In the new role, she will lead teams working on the cable operator’s video strategy, including video experience, hardware and software architecture and engineering, product and digital marketplace. She will continue to be based in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

“Elena’s deep knowledge of the video industry and her ability to translate tactically complex ideas into superior customer experiences have made her an invaluable asset to our team,” said Danny Bowman, executive vice president of product, Charter Communications, which operates the Spectrum brand, and to whom Ritchie will report. “Heading into 2025, we will continue to move our industry forward by integrating streaming apps at no additional cost to our customers. Elena and her team will lead this initiative operationally, dramatically increasing the available content and value of our video offerings.”

Ritchie has spent her entire career in the video and content industry, from overseeing content production to mobile video integration and monetization, digital transformation, advertising and content distribution.

Most recently, she played a pivotal role in the 2023 launch of Xumo for Spectrum customers, including leading the teams that helped develop Xumo’s functionality and user experience, spearheading an ambassador program to educate employees, and managing all customer suitability testing. She also oversaw the continued evolution of the Spectrum TV App.

Ritchie joined Spectrum in 2017 as vice president, video experience from NBCUniversal’s content distribution group, where she was vice president, product.

She serves on the board of In Demand and as co-chair for the silent auction for Adaptive Spirit, a not-for-profit trade association that supports U.S. Paralympic Ski & Snowboard team athletes. She also is the 2024 WICT Network Rocky Mountain's Mentor of the Year. 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature from Brown University and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. 

NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications will begin offering the ad-supported version of NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service free to its Spectrum TV Select video customers as part of a multiyear renewal of its carriage agreement with the programmer. 

Through its programming deals reached over the past year, Charter said it will soon provide Spectrum TV Select video customers up to $65 per month of direct-to-consumer streaming value, including Peacock, Disney+, ESPN+, Paramount+, AMC+, BET+, ViX, Max and Discovery+. Charter also will allow video customers to upgrade to Peacock Premium+, which is ad-free, and will make both Peacock products available for purchase to its millions of broadband-only customers in 2025. At $95 per month, Spectrum TV Select is the top-tier subscription package for Charter customers. 

“This extension of our strategic relationship with Charter ensures Spectrum video customers will continue to have access to the leading media portfolio, whether they choose to watch on traditional TV or stream it on Peacock,” NBCUniversal Chairman, Content Distribution Matt Bond said. “We also achieved our primary goal, which was to strike a deal that recognizes the value of our linear programming and the investments we’ve made in developing premium content, expanding the distribution of Peacock to more consumers. We are pleased to partner with Charter to reach these objectives to the benefit of our viewers.”

In addition to the inclusion of Peacock Premium for Spectrum video customers at no extra charge, the distribution agreement ensures Charter’s continued carriage of NBCUniversal’s NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations, Bravo, CNBC, CNBC World, E!, MSNBC, Universo, Oxygen, Syfy, Telemundo Network, Universal Kids, USA Network, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Regional Networks and New England Cable News. The following channels will be included in the Spectrum TV Stream service: Bravo, CNBC, CNBC World, E!, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy and Universal Kids.

“With the renewal of our longstanding 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 streaming apps with their Spectrum TV service at no extra cost,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand. “As we look ahead to 2025, we plan to extend this customer-first philosophy and deliver even greater value and choice to better align with customers’ current viewing preferences, including through hybrid linear DTC relationships, DTC streaming to Internet-only subscribers, and smaller video packages with DTC add-ons. We appreciate NBCUniversal’s willingness to join forces with us for the benefit of our video and broadband customers.”

Financial terms were not disclosed; Charter expects to begin offering Peacock to its customers in the coming months. 

PHILADELPHIA—In advance of the annual RDK Global Summit, RDK Management has announced that Vodafone has adopted RDK-B as its central software for managing home broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) and launching new customer-focused services faster and more cost-effectively.

As one of Europe’s largest fixed broadband providers, serving many millions of broadband customers, Vodafone will extend its use of RDK-B open-source software throughout Europe in a phased rollout, starting in spring 2025. By using RDK-B open-source software across its markets, Vodafone will be able to introduce new services and applications such as lower latency in multiple countries at the same time.

RDK Management is a joint venture between Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter. RDK is an open-source software solution deployed on more than 100 million devices that standardizes core functions used in broadband and video devices. For broadband specifically, RDK-B provides core functionalities including device management, telemetry, Wi-Fi services, Ethernet access, IPv6 transitioning and more that work across all major network access technologies including DOCSIS, GPON, DSL, and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). By packaging and open sourcing these functions in a single standard software stack, service providers can develop, deploy, and manage a consistent set of broadband services across SoCs and OEMs for use across their networks and geographic footprints.  

“At Vodafone, we are committed to delivering a superior experience to our customers. RDK-B will allow us to launch new services faster in multiple markets, as well as to effectively manage and improve device performance and analytics in a consistent and cost-effective way,” explained Oscar Gallego, global head of home & security products at Vodafone Group. “Also, through our continued collaboration with the wider RDK community, we can drive the adoption of open standards leading to greater innovation and the creation of new home broadband applications and services for customers.”

“We’re very proud that Vodafone has chosen to standardize on RDK-B as its central broadband software stack,” said Jason Briggs, president and general manager of RDK. “Vodafone is a leading telecommunications company renowned for its scale and quality, and its extended use of RDK is a testament to the proven value of our community’s efforts. Vodafone has been an instrumental member of the RDK community for many years, and we look forward to its continued participation and contributions.”  

Additional information about RDK is available at www.rdkcentral.com. More information about Vodafone www.vodafone.com.

Xumo Enterprise has announced that Cox Communications is integrating 20 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels from Xumo into its linear guide at no additional cost.

Xumo Enterprise is the business-to-business arm of the Xumo streaming and technology joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications. 

Cox follows Xfinity as the latest MVPD to integrate Xumo-powered FAST channels into its linear guide, after the milestone integration on X1 and the Xfinity Stream app last year. The Xfinity and Cox launches represent an important evolution in the company’s efforts to make FAST more accessible to consumers on a growing range of connected devices, the companies said. 

Notably, Cox’s Contour TV customers can now find 20 Xumo-branded FAST channels integrated into their channel guide. The channels span a variety of genres from action, comedy and drama movies to game shows, kids and reality TV programs, plus much more.

Additionally, later this year, Sky will integrate its six new FAST channels into the TV guide on Sky Glass and Sky Stream devices. The channels, which just launched last month and feature a selection of previously aired, much-loved shows from Sky’s expansive catalog, are currently available within the Xumo Play app on Sky’s Entertainment OS-powered devices. By partnering with Xumo Enterprise to integrate the new channels into the guide experience, Sky can offer its customers a new way to discover and enjoy them alongside all their other favorite programming, the Xumo joint venture reported. 

These MVPD channel guide integrations are an example of Xumo’s ongoing effort to support consumers’ growing appetite for FAST. Earlier this year, Xumo found in a study that pay TV customers watch more FAST than cord-cutters or cord-nevers and that time-spent watching FAST during primetime hours rivals gaming, social media and cable TV.

NEW YORK & STAMFORD, Conn.—AMC Networks and Charter Communications have announced they have agreed to an early renewal of their distribution agreement that will allow Charter to carry AMC Networks' portfolio of linear cable networks for multiple years to come. 

As part of Charter's strategy of including programmer streaming apps in the cable bundle to enhance the value proposition, the ad-supported version of AMC Networks' direct-to-consumer streaming service AMC+ will also be included at no additional cost to Charter's Spectrum TV Select customers. 

Additionally, Charter will make AMC+ available for purchase to its millions of Internet-only customers. 

"This agreement with AMC Networks supports our goal of enhancing the value and variety of premium entertainment content available to our customers," said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand of video and connectivity services. "The addition of AMC+ at no extra cost for our TV Select customers builds on our new distribution framework, which this year alone has included the addition of Paramount+ Essential, ViX Premium with Ads, Disney+ and ESPN+. We appreciate AMC Networks' partnership in reaching a distribution agreement that benefits our mutual customers and helps transform the video industry." 

With the agreement, Spectrum video customers will continue to enjoy access to AMC Networks' cable portfolio, including AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV and We TV. 

With the addition of AMC+, Charter, through its programming deals, will be providing its Spectrum TV Select Plus customers more than $40/month in retail value for streaming apps, and over $30/month in retail value for Spectrum TV Select/Select Signature customers, the pay TV operator said.

AMC+ is a premium streaming bundle featuring world-class originals, award-winning series and exclusive movies. The service includes same-day access to all original AMC series and full access to Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited.

"This early, multi-year agreement between Charter and AMC Networks ensures Spectrum TV customers will continue to have access to our high-quality original programming however they prefer to watch it, including through the ad-supported version of AMC+," said Kim Kelleher, chief commercial officer of AMC Networks. "Charter has been a long-time partner, and this agreement reflects our strong and mutually beneficial relationship and commitment to viewers." 

STAMFORD, Conn. & NEW YORK—In a notable example of how pay TV operators are bulking up their streaming offerings and bundling them with traditional cable channels, Charter Communications, Inc. and Paramount Global have announced that the ad-supported version of Paramount’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, Paramount+ Essential, is now available in all Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino packages nationwide at no additional cost. 

As part of the companies’ new multi-year distribution agreement, Spectrum video customers can immediately begin streaming over 40,000 episodes of shows and movies, including top-rated original series like “Tulsa King,” “Special Ops: Lioness,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “Big Brother,” plus live sports on CBS, through the Xumo Stream Box or any other Paramount+ supported device.

“By including Paramount+ Essential with our Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino packages at no extra cost, we are continuing to provide greater value for our video customers,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter. “This partnership not only enhances the viewing experience with access to top-rated original content and live sports, but it also creates new distribution opportunities for Paramount and is a significant step towards building a healthier video ecosystem that benefits both our customers and the industry as a whole.”

Paramount+ Essential provides streaming access to programming from CBS, in addition to hit shows and movies from such brands as BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures.

“Paramount and Charter have a long-shared commitment to deliver more ways for audiences to enjoy their favorite premium content as the media landscape continues to evolve,” said Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. Networks Distribution at Paramount. “We look forward to expanding our reach and engagement with Spectrum subscribers through the addition of Paramount+ Essential for the first time, a broad household offering with something for everyone across our leading portfolio of news, sports and entertainment programming.”

Eligible Spectrum video customers can learn more and activate their Paramount+ Essential subscription at www.spectrum.com/ParamountPlusOnUs.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications Inc. has announced that Simon Cassels, a seasoned marketing and creative executive for brands including GoodRx, Ring/Amazon and Apple’s dedicated agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, has been named senior vice president and chief creative officer, effective immediately. 

In his new role, Cassels will oversee Charter's creative strategies to evolve Spectrum’s brand identity and drive company growth.

“Simon brings a unique blend of creativity and strategic insight, combined with a customer-first mindset, which supports our mission to engage with customers as more than just a connectivity provider,” said Sharon Peters, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for charter communications inc., which operates the Spectrum brand, and to whom Mr. Cassels will report. “He will lead our efforts in establishing a differentiated customer experience that starts with our seamless connectivity services, unleashing limitless opportunity.”

As senior vice president and chief creative officer, Cassels will spearhead efforts to elevate and invigorate the Spectrum brand, leading the development and execution of marketing strategies designed to boost customer awareness and engagement. Cassels also will oversee the positioning of Spectrum’s residential products and services, define the B2C and B2B marketing strategies and collaborate across functions to identify and execute growth opportunities. His leadership will include the SMB Marketing, Direct Response, Multicultural Marketing, Retail Marketing, Spectrum Community Solutions and Customer Communications Creative teams.

“Spectrum’s innovation is at the intersection of lifestyle and technology, combined with an unwavering commitment to customer-first thinking,” said Cassels. "Seamless connectivity—both wired and wireless—opens up new opportunities for creativity and connection, empowering individuals, families and businesses. I’m excited to be joining a team that’s driving this innovation forward."  

Cassels’s extensive experience spans lifestyle and technology branding and includes serving as creative director of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, where he oversaw the marketing launch of iPad and iPad mini and created the iconic and longest running Apple commercial campaign, “Shot on iPhone.” He went on to become the chief marketing officer at Ring during a period of rapid growth, going from startup to the world’s largest home security brand, with millions of homes in the US and products available in over 30 countries worldwide.

Cassels joins Charter from GoodRx, where he most recently served as Chief Brand Officer, senior vice president of marketing since 2020. At GoodRx, he built and scaled cross-functional teams and led the company’s marketing strategies through a rebranding initiative and its IPO, increasing brand awareness to consumers and healthcare professionals to 70% and 90% respectively, and helping over 25 million customers in 2023. 

Cassels has received numerous awards over the course of his career, including multiple Cannes Lions, Addy, Clio and Telly awards. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Design & Communication from the University of the Arts London.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Federal Communications Commission has announced a $15 million settlement with Charter Communications to resolve an Enforcement Bureau investigation into the company’s compliance with 911 and network outage notification rules. 

As part of the settlement, Charter admits to violating the agency’s rules regarding notifications to public safety officials and the Commission in connection with three unplanned network outages and hundreds of planned, maintenance-related network outages that occurred last year.

“A 911 call is likely the most important call a person will ever make. Public safety officials need to be able to inform the public of alternate ways to reach emergency services in the event of an outage,” said chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. “We’ll keep doing our part to hold communications providers accountable and ensure the public has reliable 911 service.”

In one case, Charter failed to notify more than 1,000 emergency call centers of a service disruption impacting 911 service and failed to comply with the Commission’s outage reporting rules. 

As part of the settlement, the FCC said that Charter will pay a $15 million civil penalty and implement a robust compliance plan, including cybersecurity provisions, to ensure network resiliency and future adherence to the Commission’s 911 and network reporting rules.

The settlement’s compliance plan includes the first-of-its-kind application of certain cybersecurity measures—including network segmentation and vulnerability mitigation management—related to 911 communications services and network outage reporting. 

In addition, Charter agreed to maintain and evolve its overall cybersecurity risk management program in accordance with the voluntary National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework, and other applicable industry standards and best practices, and applicable state and/or federal laws covering cybersecurity risk management and governance practices.

“The Enforcement Bureau takes any potential violations of the 911 rules extremely seriously, including outage notification requirements,” said Loyaan A. Egal, chief of the Enforcement Bureau. “We will continue working to ensure that communications providers abide by these critical public safety rules and to ensure that cybersecurity measures are implemented to provide resiliency to critical infrastructure communications networks and services.”

The FCC’s rules require interconnected voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers, such as Charter, to notify 911 call centers as soon as possible of outages longer than 30 minutes that potentially affect such call centers. Providers are also required to file by set deadlines in the FCC’s Network Outage Reporting System when outages reach a certain severity threshold, the FCC said. 

The settlement concerns a network outage experienced by Charter on February 19, 2023, two additional outages on March 31, 2023, and April 26, 2023, and hundreds of planned maintenance related outages that Charter failed to report to the Commission. With regard to the February 19, 2023 outage, it was determined that Charter’s network was the target of a minor Denial of Service (DoS) attack, the FCC reported. 

The settlement, formally called a Consent Decree, is available here. 

STAMFORD, Conn. & MIAMI—Charter Communications, Inc., and TelevisaUnivision have announced that the new ad-supported premium subscription version of ViX, “Premium with Ads,” is now available at no additional cost to Spectrum customers who have access to Univision as part of their Spectrum TV Select or Mi Plan Latino packages. 

The new multi-year agreement provides those customers with streaming access to 17,000 hours of premium original series, movies and live sports currently available on ViX – including this week’s CONMEBOL Copa América and UEFA Euro 2024 semifinals and title games – with limited ad load, in addition to the full library of on demand content spanning all genres.

“The addition of ViX’s Premium with Ads to our Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino plans will enable our customers to watch even more premium Spanish-language content as part of their Spectrum video service,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter. “By working with our programming partners to include streaming apps like ViX in our video packages at no extra cost, we continue to evolve our new video paradigm with extraordinary additional value for customers.”

“With our new ViX offering living alongside TelevisaUnivision’s full linear channel lineup, Spectrum customers have access to an unprecedented amount of Spanish-language content across all genres,” added Mike Angus, executive vice president of global distribution partnerships at TelevisaUnivision. “ViX continues to see significant growth, and we’re thrilled to partner with Spectrum in furthering our mission of serving the massive U.S. Hispanic audience, leading the industry in revolutionizing the accessibility and value of Spanish-language content.”

Missed any of our product news this week? Here is our new weekly wrap-up of new products, services and deployments we published in our newsletter between June 3 and June 7. The stories are listed from the newest on Friday June 7, day by day back to our stories from Monday June 3. 

Charter Sees a Big Payoff from AI-Generated Ads

Evidence that AI tools can be a bonanza for local ad sales and bring in a host of new clients that might not otherwise be able to produce video ads, can be found at Charter’s Spectrum Reach’s local ad sales efforts.

J:COM Taps Brightcove for New Streaming Service

Brightcove has announced that J:COM Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest cable TV company, is using Brightcove technologies to power J:COM’s newest streaming service, Ikimono Watch (“Animal Watch”).

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Cloud Live Sync

Blackmagic Design has announced Blackmagic Cloud Sync, a new feature of Blackmagic Cloud storage that allows a camera to sync media into a DaVinci Resolve bin while the camera is recording.

Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Deploys Riedel's Production Suite in OB Vans

Riedel Communications has announced that the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT S.A.), Greece’s state-owned public broadcaster, has acquired Riedel's cutting-edge Simplylive Production Suite to expand its live production capabilities across a wide range of events.

ARRI Introduces Hi-5 SX Wireless Camera, Lens Control Unit

ARRI has unveiled its single-axis Hi-5 SX wireless camera and lens control hand unit, which can be upgraded with greater functionality via an optional software license.

Live Cloud Production Takes Off With Far-Reaching Implications

The broadcast industry’s accelerating transition to cloud-based production of sports, news and other live programming is proving far more disruptive to the evolution of video services than seemed likely not so long ago.

Dante Adds Media Encryption, Enhancing Security Features of the Dante AV-over-IP Platform

Audinate Group Limited, developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, has announced the addition of Dante Media Encryption to the security features and benefits of the Dante platform. Dante Media Encryption protects the content of media flows using strong AES-256 encryption, safeguarding media from interception or unauthorized access.

Anton/Bauer Launches 'Preservation Power' Campaign in Partnership with Rainforest Trust

Anton/Bauer has announced the launch of its 'Preservation Power' campaign. This initiative supports Rainforest Trust's mission to conserve and protect the world's most threatened tropical forests and endangered wildlife.

Canon Announces New EOS C400 6K Full-Frame RF Mount Cinema Camera

Canon U.S.A. Inc. has made several new product announcements with the unveiling of the new Canon EOS C400 cinema camera, a new RF-Mount CINE-SERVO and firmware updates with enhanced features for Cinema EOS Cameras and Pro Camcorders.

New Yahoo Advertising Data Offering Takes Aim at Ad Market Fragmentation

Yahoo Advertising is addressing the splintering advertising market with a new product that blends datasets to give advertisers greater perspective on connected TV (CTV) and linear audience viewers.

ITV Turns To Friend MTS To Fight Piracy

U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV has selected Friend MTS anti-piracy services to help protect its content.

Akili Kids! Handles Fast-Paced Schedule With PlayBox Neo

The Kenyan children’s network broadcast more than 1 million video files in four years using PlayBox Neo technologies.

Clear-Com Expands Connectivity, Device Support Of Arcadia Intercom

The update includes I.V. Direct Interfacing and HelixNet HXII-DPL Powerline device support.

Sony Electronics Unveils New Firmware Roadmap for the BURANO Digital Cinema Camera

Two new firmware updates will include additional recording modes, support for live event production and more improvements, which will be released over the next year.

DZS Completes NetComm Acquisition

Deal expands its offerings to broadband networking, connectivity and cloud software and its footprint in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia/New Zealand.

FCC Ends Affordable Connectivity Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced that the agency officially ended the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on June 1, 2024 after Congress failed to provide additional funding.

Dielectric Antennas Help CTN Spread Its Message Far and Wide

This user report explains how the Christian Television Network, which operates 24 television stations throughout the United States, recently installed three new Dielectric antennas at its stations. 

Evidence that AI tools can be a bonanza for local ad sales and bring in a host of new clients that might not otherwise be able to produce video ads, can be found at Charter’s Spectrum Reach’s local ad sales efforts. 

Following a partnership with Waymark to deploy its AI tools for quick creation of local ads, Spectrum and Waymark are reporting that in 2022, Spectrum Reach's team locked in $11.5 million in ad dollars with Waymark's AI spec spots and commercials. In 2023, they increased that number to $27 million. 

The companies also reported in a recently published case study that Spectrum Reach and its clients used Waymark’s AI to boost operations across the board, producing nearly 7,000 rendered commercial projects.

In 2023, Spectrum Reach was also able to generate an average of $4,000 ad dollars per Waymark video.

The results are a particularly positive development for broadcast stations and local ad sales efforts at a time when broadcasters have seen their core (non-political) ad revenue decline. Bringing in new clients who could not previously afford to the time and money it takes to create local ads by offering them automated AI ad creation tools could help reverse those declining sales. 

Waymark's tools have already been adopted by such broadcasters as Fox, Gray and Scripps.  

MEDIACOM PARK, N.Y.—Mediacom Communications is now making the Xumo Stream Box available to its Xtream Internet customers at no additional monthly cost.

Mediacom announced last fall that it would be deploying the Xumo Stream Box, which was developed as part of the Xumo joint venture between Comcast and Charter. The 4K streaming device powered by Comcast’s newest entertainment experience, Entertainment OS. 

Mediacom joins Charter and Comcast as the third U.S.-based cable operator to offer Xumo Stream Box to its customers.

The deployments illustrate how cable operators are embracing streaming technologies and working to strengthen the value of their very profitable broadband offerings with streaming services at a time when traditional pay TV packages continue to decline in popularity and their broadband services face increased competition from fixed, 5G wireless services. 

“Xumo Stream Box is an incredibly versatile and consumer-friendly technology that seamlessly integrates our market leading broadband speeds with a world class streaming experience,” said Tapan Dandnaik, Mediacom’s senior vice president of operations, product strategy and consumer experience. “We are thrilled to be among the first companies to bring this cutting-edge device to market.”

With Xumo Stream Box, Mediacom’s Xtream Internet Customers can search for a show or movie by saying its name into the included voice remote, and Xumo Stream Box will search across available apps and services to find it. The Xumo Stream Box also uses both AI-driven personalization and a team of editors to surface content recommendations within the experience, helping customers find something to watch without having to jump in and out of apps.

The built-in channel guide allows users to brows through Xumo Play’s 300+ channels spanning live local and national news, movies, sports, reality shows, crime TV, kids programming and more. It also comes preloaded with hundreds of streaming apps, no need for customers to download before they watch. They can simply say the name of the streaming service into the voice remote, and Xumo Stream Box will find and launch it.

With “My List,” Xtream customers can also build personalized viewing lists for every member of the family. 

More information is available at mediacomcable.com/products/xumo/. 

LOS ANGELES—Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) has announced that it has reached a multi-year renewal agreement with Charter Communications Inc, (Charter). The deal includes carriage of AMG cable television networks The Weather Channel, TheGrio, Justice Central.TV, Pets.TV, Recipe.TV, and Cars.TV as well as the retransmission renewal for Allen Media Broadcasting television stations on Charter’s Spectrum platforms.

As part of Charter’s push to add more streaming services, the new deal will also provide authenticated Spectrum video subscribers with access to The Weather Channel TV App at no additional charge on connected TV sets and OTT devices. 

Additionally, Charter will have the opportunity to offer the service to its broadband subscribers for $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year. The Weather Channel TV App features The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel en Español, climate-focused digital platform Pattrn, and additional VOD content. 

"We are delighted to continue growing our relationship with Charter Communications,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “Charter/Spectrum has been a phenomenal partner to our television networks and our broadcast television stations, and we look forward to prospering from this mutually-beneficial arrangement for years to come.”

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications has announced that it will award $2.5 million over the next five years to local nonprofits through Spectrum Employee Community Grants (SECG), the company’s employee-driven grants program. 

As part of that effort, Charter pledges to support a minimum of 500 nonprofit organizations, impacting more than 70,000 community members, through 2028.

Charter said the announcement celebrates SECG’s five-year anniversary and commemorates the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.  

Launched in 2019, SECG supports nonprofits nominated by Charter employees with a personal connection to the organization through at least one year of their own volunteer work. Grant recipients, located across Charter’s 41-state service area, receive donations of up to $10,000 to deliver critical social services to underserved community members, such as food pantries, homeless shelters and clothing distribution. Organizations have used SECG donations to support job training for veterans, pay overdue rent and utility bills for those in crisis and improve the living conditions of homeless and emergency shelters.

“Over the past five years, Spectrum Employee Community Grants has supported hundreds of nonprofits that hold a meaningful connection to the Charter employees who nominate them, and to the communities they serve,” said Rhonda Crichlow, senior vice president, chief diversity officer for Charter. “Looking forward to the next five years, we’re renewing our commitment to SECG by increasing our investment in the program in support of our employees’ dedication to volunteer work and vital community organizations that enhance the lives of local residents.”

In celebration of the program’s five-year anniversary, Charter will host an SECG-organized employee volunteer event in Tampa on January 18 alongside grant recipient Metropolitan Ministries, a nonprofit dedicated to serving homeless individuals and families through food, housing and children’s services. 

Since 2020, Charter has awarded $30,000 to Metropolitan Ministries through SECG for emergency food and clothing assistance for the homeless. Charter employees will gather to volunteer their time during the celebration in honor of the work organizations like Metropolitan Ministries have done for their communities, in part with SECG’s support.

“Over the last 51 years, Metropolitan Ministries has grown from a single room food pantry to a regional multiservice organization serving over 100,000 people annually,” said Tim Marks, president and CEO for Metropolitan Ministries. “We are appreciative of the incredible support we’ve received from Charter and Spectrum Employee Community Grants, which has helped us to sustain critical programs, like our emergency food fund, as we further our mission to strengthen the communities we serve.”

More information about Spectrum Employee Community Grants is available here.

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications has announced that the application period is now open for Spectrum Scholars, the company’s annual scholarship program for underrepresented college students with financial need. 

Each of the rising college juniors selected for the 2024-2025 program will receive a $20,000 scholarship, a Charter mentor and the opportunity for a paid internship with the company. Eligible students can apply for the program here.

“Spectrum Scholars allows us to support rising professionals through financial and career development support, underscoring our commitment to investing in a skilled and diverse workforce that can best serve the needs of our customers,” said Paul Marchand, executive vice president, chief human resources officer for Charter. “Attracting, developing and retaining employees is key to Charter’s continued success, and this effort begins with entry level roles.”

Now in its fourth year, Charter has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships through Spectrum Scholars since 2020, but the benefits for students of participating in the program extend far beyond financial assistance. 

Charter said that each of the students selected for the 2024-2025 class of Spectrum Scholars will have the opportunity to complete the two-year professional development program, designed to introduce them to new career paths and expand their networks, with the potential for full-time employment with Charter post-graduation.

Students also get unique access to networking and professional development opportunities including the Scholars Summit, a three-day event hosted at Charter’s corporate headquarters in Stamford. In December, the 2022 and 2023 classes traveled from across the country for the 2023 Scholars Summit where they participated in networking activities with Charter mentors and sat in on keynotes and career development sessions on topics like how to communicate in a corporate environment and the different career paths that can be pursued with Charter.

Fifteen students will be selected for the 2024-2025 class, each receiving $20,000 in tuition support to be spread between their junior and senior years, a Charter mentor and the opportunity for a paid, 10-week internship at one of Charter’s corporate offices in Stamford, Charlotte, St. Louis or Denver, the company said. 

More information about how to apply, as well as program eligibility and selection criteria, is available here. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2024; winners will be announced in May and scholarships will be awarded in August. 

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications is awarding $1.1 million to 46 nonprofit organizations through its Spectrum Digital Education grant program. 

With this latest round of grants, Charter has committed more than $9 million to the initiative, which supports broadband technology programs, education and training in unserved and underserved communities throughout Charter’s service area.

“The importance of expanding access to essential broadband technologies, education and training is profound in our increasingly digital world,” said Rahman Khan, group vice president of community impact, Charter. “Through the 2023 Spectrum Digital Education grant program, Charter is partnering with valued nonprofits that share our commitment to create better opportunities for the communities we serve.”

This year, 21 nonprofits were awarded a Spectrum Digital Education grant for the first time, including Serving Older Adults of Southeast Wisconsin in Milwaukee, which provides access to technology training and devices for seniors; Compudopt, which offers free technology access and education to under-resourced local residents in and around the Dallas, Texas area; and Black Connect in Wesley Chapel, Florida, which is dedicated to eliminating the racial wealth gap facing Black Americans by increasing the number and success rate of Black-owned businesses, the company reported. 

Additional 2023 recipients include Kramden Institute in Durham, North Carolina, which has been awarded five grants through Spectrum Digital Education totaling $170,000. With this latest round of funding, Kramden Institute will partner with housing authorities and community organizations to deliver basic computer skills education and free, refurbished computers to participants, Charter said. 

Hispanic Federation is an eight-time recipient, having been awarded $275,000 through the program, and will use the additional funding to launch a mobile Spectrum Learning Hub to provide workforce training to low-income Latino residents and farmworkers in the Wimauma, Florida area.

“Our reliance on digital tools to connect us to the world around us is growing by the day, whether at work or in our daily lives,” said Frankie Miranda, president and CEO, Hispanic Federation. “Through our partnership with Charter’s Spectrum Digital Education program, we’re making sure Latino families don’t get left behind and receive the training they need to strengthen their twenty-first century skills and thrive in our increasingly digital world.”

Since the 2017 launch of Spectrum Digital Education, Charter has awarded 261 grants to 143 unique partners. As of September 2023, the program has helped to fund more than 30,000 digital education classes, distribute over 13,000 devices including laptops and support the creation of 157 tech labs.

From the nearly 250 eligible applications received, 46 nonprofit organizations across 14 states were selected. The full list of the recipients can be found here.  

BURBANK, Calif. & STAMFORD, Conn.—The Walt Disney Company and Charter Communications have concluded a major carriage deal that the two companies are calling “transformative,” ending an impasse that had looked like it would last much longer. 

The deal is notable because it includes carriage for some streaming services as well as Disney’s stations and traditional linear networks like ESPN and will give Charter more flexibility in the way it packages programming on its video tiers. 

It will allow Charter to carry ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offering when it is launched at some point in the future and will make ESPN+ available in the Spectrum TV select plus video package. 

The deal also includes provisions to add Disney+ Basic ad-supported offering to Spectrum TV Select video packages and to allow Charter to sell Disney’s DTC services to its broadband-only customers.

The Disney+ ad-supported and the ESPN+ services are expected to be added in the coming months. 

The deal immediately restores a curated line-up of Disney networks to Charter's video packages and will see some Disney networks removed from the Charter's Spectrum TV video packages. 

Under the agreement, Spectrum will continue to carry the ABC-Owned Television Stations, Disney Channel, FX and the Nat Geo Channel, in addition to the full ESPN network suite. 

Networks that will no longer be included in Spectrum TV video packages are Baby TV, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo.

In a joint statement Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, and Chris Winfrey, president and CEO, Charter Communications said: “Our collective goal has always been to build an innovative model for the future. This deal recognizes both the continued value of linear television and the growing popularity of streaming services, while addressing the evolving needs of our consumers. We also want to thank our mutual customers for their patience this past week, and are pleased that Spectrum viewers once again have access to Disney’s high-quality sports, news and entertainment programming, in time for Monday Night Football.”

The deal comes at a time when negotiations between operators and programmers have become particularly fraught. Operators struggling with hefty sub losses from cord cutting, have been looking to control rising programming costs. 

Prior to the deal, Charter had been pushing for rights to offer Disney’s ad-supported streaming services to its video packages and to have more flexibility in moving channels to different tiers so it could attract and retain subs with less costly offerings. 

Charter had also signaled that the industry was at a turning point and that widespread cord-cutting required a new model for pay TV video programming.    

Key deal points for the new agreement include:

• In the coming months, the Disney+ Basic ad-supported offering will be provided to customers who purchase the Spectrum TV Select package, as part of a wholesale arrangement;
• ESPN+ will be provided to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers;
• The ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer service will be made available to Spectrum TV Select subscribers upon launch and; 
• Charter will maintain flexibility to offer a range of video packages at varying price points based upon different customer’s viewing preferences.
• Charter also will use its significant distribution capabilities to offer Disney’s direct-to-consumer services to all of its customers – in particular its large broadband-only customer base – for purchase at retail rates. These include Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, as well as The Disney Bundle. 

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications has awarded $400,000 in scholarships to the 2023 class of Spectrum Scholars, the company’s annual college scholarship program for underrepresented students with financial need. 

Each of the 20 students in this year’s class will receive a $20,000 scholarship, be assigned a Charter mentor and have the opportunity to pursue an internship at one of the company’s corporate offices in Stamford, Charlotte, St. Louis or Denver.

“We look forward to welcoming the outstanding students selected to participate in this year’s Spectrum Scholars program,” said Paul Marchand, the company’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer. “As we continue to make meaningful investments to build a highly skilled and diverse talent pipeline, Spectrum Scholars directly supports the next generation of leaders through financial assistance, as well as invaluable mentorship, hands-on learning and networking opportunities.”

Launched in 2020, Spectrum Scholars is a two-year program designed to introduce students to career paths that match their interests and provide them with real-world experience in a corporate environment, Charter said. 

In addition to awarding scholarship funds to be used over the course of their junior and senior years, the Scholars receive mentorship and skills training, with the potential for full-time employment with Charter post-graduation.

The opportunity for employment with Charter is one of the key advantages afforded to Scholars. Mariel Segovia, a participant in the 2020 class of Spectrum Scholars, accepted a full-time position as a network engineer with Spectrum Enterprise’s Data Integrity team in Austin upon completion of the program and internships with Charter’s Community Impact department in 2021 and the Data Integrity Team within Enterprise Service Engineering in 2022.

The 2023 class of Spectrum Scholars is comprised of 20 finalists representing 13 schools across eight states and a variety of academic majors. 

Selected by Charter executives from a pool of over 800 submissions, applicants had to be rising college juniors with financial need and identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and/or Native American. The full list of recipients can be found here. More information about the program is available here.  

STAMFORD, Conn.—Charter Communications has announced it will commit $1 million towards Spectrum Digital Education in 2023, bringing its total investment in the multi-year initiative to $9 million. 

The funds support access to broadband education, training and technology. Nonprofit organizations that offer broadband education, training and technology can apply to be considered for the grant here. Applications are accepted from Thursday, June 1 at 9 AM EDT through Friday, June 23 at 5 PM EDT. Grant recipients will be announced in late summer, the operator said. 

Since the program’s 2017 launch, Charter has partnered with over 100 organizations, impacting more than 100,000 people across 22 states and Washington D.C. Grant recipients have used funding to expand digital skills training for seniors, install adaptable technology labs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and provide devices like tablets and laptops to those in need.

“Since the pandemic, many essential services related to employment, education and health care have moved online, leaving the unserved and underserved even further disconnected from the resources needed to successfully navigate today’s world,” said Rahman Khan, group vice president of community impact for Charter. “The funds granted through Spectrum Digital Education directly support organizations that aim to bridge the digital divide in communities where our customers live and work.”

Charter reported that the Spectrum Digital Education has been instrumental in helping individuals nationwide gain access to broadband technologies and resources. In 2022, Janet Kenty of Charlotte, NC was living at a homeless shelter with her three children when a pipe burst, destroying much of her family’s belongings, including her computer. Fortunately, local nonprofit and Spectrum Digital Education grant recipient E2D had an upcoming event to distribute 600 laptops to 300 families in need and were able to provide a replacement computer for Janet and her children. More about her story is available here.

Other Spectrum Digital Education grantees have used funding to provide digital skills training to members of their local communities. Buffalo, NY nonprofit and grant recipient VIA (Visually Impaired Advancement) was able to help a legally blind community member land a job at Explore & More Children’s Museum through the VIA Workforce Experience Training Program. 

Another grantee in Syracuse, InterFaith Works of Central New York, delivered in-home digital skills classes to a 70-year-old veteran with mobility issues, enabling him to effectively use his iPad to access telehealth services. In Oxnard, CA, LULAC National Educational Service Centers, Inc. supported a mother who was having difficulty communicating with her son’s teacher by providing her with the training she needed to navigate the school’s digital tools.

To be eligible for a Spectrum Digital Education grant, organizations must serve communities within Charter’s 41-state service area and have 501C(3) tax-exempt status. More information on how to apply is available here.

NEW YORK—S&P Global Ratings has updated its U.S. pay-TV video subscriber forecast in the wake of the two largest U.S. cable companies, Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc., reporting aggregate residential video subscriber losses for the first quarter of 2023 that were significantly higher than 1Q 2022 and well ahead of S&P Global Ratings' forecast.

"We expect the rate of overall pay-TV subscriber losses in 2023 will modestly increase from 2022's 7.0% decline," said Naveen Sarma, an analyst with S&P Global Ratings. "Legacy pay-TV subscriber declines, which includes cable, telco and satellite, will likely reach 12.4%, somewhat tempered by 10.4% growth of virtual pay-TV video subscribers. Virtual subscriber growth will benefit significantly from the NFL Sunday Ticket broadcast contract moving from DirecTV to Alphabet’s YouTube TV service."

S&P Global Ratings views the rate of cord-cutting as a credit negative for the entire TV media sector, although the degree varies by subsector, with regional sports networks and children's and premium cable networks being most vulnerable to cord-cutting. 

"The ultimate impact to individual companies' operating and credit metrics depends on the entity," said Sarma, "because most large media companies have diverse business operations, and their streaming services benefit from the decline in legacy television."

In Q1, 2023 Comcast said it lost 614,000 video subscribers during the quarter, an increase from the 444,000 it reported in Q4 2022.

Charter meanwhile reported losing 815,000 subs in the first quarter, a 5.2% decline. 

Pay TV providers, including cable, satellite and vMVPD companies representing 92% of the market, lost nearly 5.9 million net video subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma loss of about 4.7 million in 2021 according to Leichtman Research Group