It’s happening: The slow decline of cable TV.

I guarantee this probably isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, and that’s because it’s true.

According to Comcast’s filing in 2016, it had 24.7 million high-speed internet customers and 22.5 million video customers.

While that might not seem like too much of a difference, it is a decrease in video customers — a decline that will more than likely grow in the next few years.

I’ve noticed recently that a lot of my friends (including me) have dropped cable from their internet and cable bill.

If you’re not using it then why should you pay for it? At least, that’s the logic behind some of my friends’ decision to say goodbye to cable.

I know it was the reason why I ditched cable. When I decide to sit down and watch something, I usually use some type of streaming platform that I subscribe to.

The inevitable truth is this: Cable subscriptions will continue to decay, leaving a significant amount of cable companies’ revenue in jeopardy and forcing them to redirect their focuses toward industries that’ll bring in revenue.

Two of the largest cable providers Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Charter (NASDAQ: CHTR) have joined to prep for providing a new service to their customers. Both companies will merge to offer customers wireless plans.

You see, Comcast and Charter are seen more as peers than rivals — making it easier for them to work together and break into a new industry. (Well, a new industry for them.)

Both companies have signed off on a yearlong agreement that states neither company will make any mergers or acquisitions of wireless companies without the other’s permission.

Comcast and Charter plan to offer plans with only wireless services to their customers.

Adding on a wireless service will make it easy for existing customers — it’s a no-brainer. Comcast and Charter will most likely offer some type of “bundled deal” that would include TV, internet, home phone services, and wireless to its customers. That will add a new level of convenience to existing customers’ lives while also enticing new customers to come on board.

In a statement about the partnership, Charter Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said:

By working with the team at Comcast, we can not only speed Charter’s entry into the marketplace, it will also enable us to provide more competition and drive costs down for consumers at a similar national scale as current wireless operators…

We look forward to working with Comcast through this innovative arrangement and bringing our focus on superior products and services, craftsmanship and quality customer care to the wireless space.

Verizon and AT&T happen to be the current wireless leaders — they have a strong grip on the market and wireless customers, which could be one of the reasons as to why you’re paying such a high cell phone bill every month.

This combined effort will put Comcast and Charter in competition with Verizon and AT&T — companies that are also dominating media, entertainment, and tech.

Comcast and Charter will be adding more competition to the market, and that’ll give customers more options, more products, and better prices. It will also have Verizon and AT&T working a little harder to remain wireless leaders.

In the back of your mind, you might be thinking about how this partnership could be a little terrifying. Especially when it comes to these already huge companies becoming even bigger and becoming significant players within the wireless market — an industry that we as consumers rely on everyday.

Almost everyone has a cell or smartphone — these devices have become a part of our daily lives. So, it’s a little hard to think that cable powerhouses like Comcast and Charter would have your best interests at heart when it comes to your wireless plan.

Not only that but being joined together gives both of these companies the opportunity to make a play for wireless carriers like T-Mobile or Sprint to further their potential dominance in wireless.

The partnership between Comcast and Charter will definitely shake up the wireless market… for better or for worse.

Until next time,

Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today