http://www.multichannel.com/news/news-articles/cablevision-launches-cord-cutter-packages/390048
Cablevision Launches ‘Cord-Cutter’ Packages
Cablevision Systems is launching a series of cord-cutter packages, basically a
mixture of high-speed Internet and a digital antenna to grab over-the air
networks.
Introductory prices for the service will range from $34.90 per month to $44.90
per month and in some cases including Cablevision’s Freewheel WiFi-only phone
service and are specifically targeted at young customers who are increasingly
balking at paying high prices for cable TV. Data speeds will range from a basic
5 Megabit per second offering to 50 Mbps and beyond. Customers also have the
option of adding Home Box Office standalone service HBO Now at an additional
charge.
The offerings are different from so-called “skinny TV” packages in that the
Cablevision offering includes no cable or broadcast networks at all. Optimum TV
is specifically excluded.
“As a connectivity company, Cablevision is reimagining its relationship with
its customers,” said chief operating officer Kristin Dolan in a statement. “Our
new ‘cord cutter’ packages take a modern approach to traditional triple-product
bundles and provide real alternatives that fit new consumer lifestyles.”
With the cord-cutter packages, millennials will be able to access SVOD apps
like Netflix and Hulu, hook up a Roku Box or Apple TV device or subscribe to
low cost over-the-top offerings like Sling TV that they pay for separately over
their broadband connections. Broadcast networks will be available for free over
the air using a Mohu Leaf 50 digital antenna (valued at $69.99). Mohu, which
got its start in 2010 as a maker of antennas for the military, has been one of
several antenna manufacturers that have targeted the pay TV market.
Cablevision CEO James Dolan has been a big proponent of connectivity, stressing
that the cable operator has to make moves to ensure its customers get the
products and services they want. That could mean that video drops a notch on
the priority chart – Dolan has said in the past that given the choice between
video and data, consumers will choose data every time. And the company has
backed up that strategy by building out one of the most robust WiFi networks in
the industry and in February launching Freewheel, a WiFi-only phone aimed at
data hungry consumers and priced at $29.95 per month for non-Cablevision
customers and $9.95 per month for existing customers.
