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

Hulu Mounts Push To Draw And Keep Subscribers: Executive

Luring and keeping customers is becoming harder as the online streaming market gets more crowded and subscribers, freed from cable television's contract model, can cancel service with a click of the m...

AT&T To Buy Time Warner In Media-Shaking $85.4B Deal

That streaming service is one way AT&T wants to ensure that younger consumers will still flow its way. A study by research firm Parks Associates found that nearly a quarter of millennial households ju...

Why Amazon Is The Current King Of The Virtual Assistants

The smart home market is young, but it's growing rapidly as IoT makes its way into virtually every product that can benefit from some level of connectivity. Smart home device ownership in the United S...

Antenna-Only Homes Have Doubled Since 2013, Parks Says

According to Parks & Associates, that percentage has nearly doubled since 2013, reaching 15% of homes in 2016. “Pay-TV subscriptions have dropped each year since 2014, falling to 81% of U.S. broadb...