Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

The Triple-Play Bundle Is Dead, But This Surprisingly Popular Bundle Just Might Stop Cable Companies' Bleeding

Market research outfit Parks Associates offers up a glimpse of the bundle's penetration: As of the end of the first quarter of this year, 19% of U.S. broadband subscribers also enjoy wireless/mobile service offered by the same provider.

It's not a lot, admittedly. But put it in perspective. Charter's Spectrum only began offering mobile phone service in mid-2018. It now serves nearly 2.7 million mobile customers. Comcast's Xfinity Mobile platform only launched in mid-2017, and it's already signed up 3.1 million wireless subscribers. The portion of domestic broadband customers who have bundled their high-speed internet service with a mobile plan has grown from only around 11% in early 2019, according to Parks Associates' data, to the aforementioned current figure of 19%.

Parks Associates indicates the average cost of a broadband/mobile combo is $128 per month. With stand-alone broadband service costing an average of $64 per month, the other $64 of the combo's total cost is on par with a typical wireless service plan's monthly cost. Although the mobile service arena is highly competitive, at least we know that all the major names in the mobile telecom business are profitable. Given how the cable television industry has been on the defensive for years, conversely, it's not always clear if there's still any real profit to be gleaned by being in the business.

From the article, "The Triple-Play Bundle Is Dead, But This Surprisingly Popular Bundle Just Might Stop Cable Companies' Bleeding" by James Brumley. 

Previously In The News

NBC’s Peacock Is Ready to Fly, But Roku and Amazon May Clip Its Wings

But as Peacock prepares to roll out nationwide on July 15, the app is still missing some key distribution partners. NBC has yet to reach agreements to offer the service through Roku and Amazon Fire TV...

NBC’s video service Peacock stresses ‘free,’ looks to 2021

Quibi hasn’t gained much traction, according to an analysis of its app downloads and conversions from a three-month free trial by Sensor Tower. Apple does not release subscriber data. HBO Max did not...

Quibi’s Slow Start Puts Pressure on Katzenberg to Boost Cash

One important variable will be Quibi’s churn rate, the percentage of subscribers who drop the service each year. If it tracks closer to that of Netflix, often estimated to be less than 10% annually, t...

App for COVID-19 contact tracing faces hurdles, generational divide over privacy concerns

A survey of 5,000 adults by Parks Associates indicates roughly half, 52 percent, are willing to share tracking data in an app while 28 percent are unwilling. Twenty percent are willing but only with p...