WOW to phase out own pay-TV product as it strikes deal with YouTube TV

WideOpenWest (WOW) will eventually phase out its own pay-TV offerings following a new strategic partnership with YouTube TV that makes the Google-owned streaming service WOW's "dedicated live television offering."

Financial terms of the agreement were not announced. But like a similar agreement recently forged between Frontier Communications and YouTube TV, WOW will be able to offer its own broadband service and YouTube TV on a unified bill.

Figure 1: As it shifts its video focus to YouTube TV, WOW will stop marketing and selling its own pay-TV services, including WOW tv+, an app-based, IP-delivered service that uses Android TV boxes.
(Source: WideOpenWest)

The deal with YouTube TV expands WOW's "broadband-first" strategy that has seen the operator deemphasize video and focus more squarely on its higher-margin broadband services. WOW is also expanding its connectivity footing by pairing its broadband services with new mobile packages underpinned by a deal with Reach that rides T-Mobile's wireless network.

WOW set to push migration to YouTube TV this summer

WOW has been supporting a pair of its own pay-TV services – a relatively new IP- and app-based product called WOW tv+ that uses Android TV boxes and an offering called Ultra TV that relies on hybrid QAM/IP set-tops. WOW, a partner of MyBundle, has also been promoting a set of OTT-delivered pay-tv services – YouTube TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream.

WOW, which is rumored to be in M&A talks, intends to eventually phase out its own pay-TV services. That migration will accelerate this summer as WOW discontinues the marketing and selling of its own TV services. WOW's been asked when it expects to complete the migration.

Update: WOW is not providing a specific timeline for its migration off the legacy platforms. However, WOW does intend to spur things in that direction by offering special promotional offers to purchase YouTube TV. WOW hasn't detailed those promotions, but YouTube TV currently sells for $64.99 per month for three months, rising to $72.99 per month thereafter.

"The migration process will unfold over time," a WOW official said via email. "We want to take our time and do it right, keeping our customers in mind as we make this shift.

WOW isn't sharing the financial terms of the deal, so it's unclear if it will get a bounty for new YouTube TV subs or if there will be a deeper revenue-sharing arrangement.

WideOpenWest shed 6,100 video subs in the first quarter of 2023, ending the period with 117,100. WOW's video penetration dropped to 6.2% at the end of Q1. WOW posted Q1 video revenues of $42.1 million, down from $48.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

WOW's decision to effectively wind down its own video offerings comes on the heels of a first quarter that saw historic losses in pay-TV subscribers.

YouTube TV has been a prime exception to the rule. YouTube TV, the beneficiary of a new deal that makes YouTube and YouTube TV the exclusive homes of the NFL's Sunday Ticket package, was estimated to have gained about 300,000 subs in Q1.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading