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

Cable Boxes Suck. One Day They’ll Die. Until Then We Have to Fix Them.

“Nothing in our proposal would prevent Comcast or TimeWarner from what they’re doing with Roku or Apple TV, or how they decide to pick what devices to share their app with,” says an FCC spokeswoman....

Bulls vs. Bears: Who's Right About Roku Stock?

Roku faces myriad competitors, but it still dominated the U.S. streaming device market with a 37% share as of early 2018, according to Parks Associates. Amazon ranked second with a 28% share, and Appl...

Apple Needs Netflix and HBO More Than They Need It

According to a survey from Parks Associates, 36% of households subscribe to two or more streaming video services. If Apple provides a convenient way for subscribers to see all of their paid content in...

Roku Plunges: 3 Reasons to Buy, 4 Reasons to Sell

Last August, Parks Associates reported that Roku controlled 37% of the streaming device market in the U.S., while Amazon, Google, and Apple held shares of 24%, 18%, and 15%, respectively. All three of...