GCI, Alaska's largest cable operator, will shut down its pay-TV services by mid-2025, including its app-based Yukon TV streaming platform. GCI said it will shift more resources toward broadband and mobile.
Following in the footsteps of some smaller US cable operators, GCI, Alaska's biggest cable operator, is preparing to end its pay-TV service.
GCI confirmed that it has informed its video customers that it will shut down its TV offerings by mid-2025 and allocate more of its resources toward broadband and mobile. GCI explained on its website that it filed an application to discontinue its cable TV/video service with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on November 8.
The coming shutdown spans both Choice TV, GCI's legacy pay-TV service that uses older QAM-based devices such as TiVo boxes and is limited to a handful of rural markets, and Yukon TV. Yukon TV is a newer, app-based, streaming pay-TV offering that runs on a range of devices, including Apple TV boxes, certain Amazon Fire TV devices and several Android TV-powered devices, including the Evo Pro from Colorado-based Evolution Digital.
"Over the past few years, we have listened to customer feedback on our TV offerings (including Yukon TV and Choice TV) and seen our customers increasingly choose online video streaming as their preferred way to watch their favorite programming. In light of these factors, we will sunset our TV offerings by mid-2025," GCI said in a statement that also was shared with customers. "This decision was not made lightly. We're proud of our decades-long history of providing cable TV service to Alaskans, but we believe the right path forward is to support customer choice on video by focusing our resources on providing the best internet and mobile data experience in Alaska."
GCI has already been phasing out a legacy QAM video platform. That move enables the operator to clear about 200MHz of spectrum for broadband and other IP services, including "high-split" upgrades that dedicate more capacity to the network upstream and potential, future DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades.
Growing trend
GCI joins a growing number of US pay-TV operators that have opted to shut down their pay-TV service/infrastructure to instead focus on higher-margin broadband services, cede video to third-party streaming options or help broadband customers create their own streaming bundles. WideOpenWest (WOW), for example, plans to eventually phase out its pay-TV offerings after striking a partnership with YouTube TV. Cable One recently signaled that it won't be in the pay-TV business for the long haul.
Other operators are exploring new ways to keep their hand in the pay-TV game. Among examples, the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) recently introduced "Broadband TV," a skinny pay-TV package tailored for broadband-only customers that features a lineup of 30-plus entertainment channels.
'Very small percentage'
GCI, an operator owned by Liberty Broadband, does not disclose pay-TV subscriber numbers. However, a spokesperson said GCI has seen a decline in pay-TV subscribers as customers gravitate to third-party streaming services and that its current pay-TV subs represent "a very small percentage of our overall customer base."
Speaking Thursday (November 14) at the Liberty Media investor day, Duncan presented a slide showing that GCI's video subscriber base dropped from more than 70,000 in 2020 to below 20,000 in 2024.
Though the shutdown is months away, GCI is recommending that customers explore virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) options, such as YouTube TV and Hulu, and explains that devices that currently run Yukon TV can be used to access services like Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+. This GCI web page notes that the Evo Pro device does not support Netflix.
Xumo to play a role
GCI's communique to customers also makes note of the hundreds of free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels offered by Xumo, the Comcast-Charter national streaming joint venture. GCI told customers that it will "provide more support for Xumo to help you find your favorite shows and channels on other streaming services" in the coming months.
GCI said it will have more specific information on Xumo's role in the coming weeks, but acknowledged that the operator does intend to offer Xumo streaming devices.
One likely candidate is the Xumo Stream Box, a streaming media player that is currently being offered by Comcast, Charter, Cox Communications and Mediacom Communications. Xumo also sells a family of smart TVs that are also powered by Comcast's Entertainment OS.
Editor's note: The story has been updated with a confirmation from GCI that the operator intends to distribute streaming devices from the Xumo joint venture. An additional update makes note of GCI video subscriber trends presented November 14 at Liberty Media's analyst day.
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