Wide Open West
Company type | Public |
---|---|
NYSE:WOW Russell 2000 Component | |
Industry | Telecommunications |
Predecessor | Americast,Knology |
Founded | November 1996 Denver, Colorado,U.S. |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | |
Key people | Teresa Elder (president&CEO) John Rego (CFO) Bill Case (CIO) Henry Hryckiewicz (CTO) |
Products | Broadband Cable television IPTV Digital cable Digital telephone HDTV Internet Internet security VoIP phone |
Brands | WOW! |
Revenue | US$1,148.4 million(2020)[1] |
US$22.2 million(2020)[2] | |
US$14.4 million(2020)[2] | |
Total assets | US$2,487.0 million(2020)[1] |
Subsidiaries | Broadstripe |
Website | www |
WideOpenWest, Inc.(doing business asWOW![3]) is the eighth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 1.9 million homes and businesses.[4]The company offerslandlinetelephone, cable television, andbroadband Internetservices.[5]As of November 3, 2022, WOW! has about 538,100 subscribers.[6]
After a 2017initial public offering,WideOpenWest is publicly traded withAvista Capital Partnersand Crestview Partners retaining significant stakes.[7]As of August 6, 2019 Avista Capital Partners sold their shares in the company, leaving Crestview Partners WOW's largest shareholder holding a 37% stake in the company.[8]
History
[edit]WOW! was founded in November 1996 inDenver,Colorado.After building a network in April 2001, WOW! initially served about 200 people in the Denver area. In November 2001, WOW! purchasedAmericast,an overbuild system in the Midwest built and operated byAmeritechNew Media for an undisclosed amount per subscriber, estimated to have been at a cost of $600 per sub.[citation needed]This purchase opened WOW! to over 310,000 new customers inmetropolitanareas surrounding the cities ofChicago,Cleveland,Columbus,Detroit,Denver,andEvansville.[9]WOW! no longer serves the Columbus, Cleveland, or Denver markets.
Avista Capital Partners completed its acquisition of cable operator WideOpenWest ( “WOW!” ) fromOak Hill Capital Partnersand ABRY Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.[10]
On August 23, 2011,Wave Broadbandand WOW! announced that they entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets ofBroadstripe LLC,a provider of residential and commercial bundled communications services. On January 14, WOW! completed the acquisition of Broadstripe's cable systems inMichigan.
In April 2012, WOW! purchasedKnology,a broadband company, operating in 13 markets. With the merger the combined customer total will be over 800,000.[11]Knology had previously merged with Valley Telephone Company in 1999, Prairiewave Communications in 2007,[12]Graceba Total Communications in 2008,[13]and Sunflower Broadband in 2011.[14]
In June 2014, WOW! sold its cable, Internet and phone systems in the South Dakota markets to Clarity Telecom. Part of the multimillion-dollar deal, worth $262 million, included the markets in Iowa and Minnesota previously served by Knology and PrairieWave Communications.[15]In March 2015 these markets would officially become known asVast Broadband.[16]
In September 2016, WOW! purchased NuLink, a cable company servingNewnan, Georgiawith approximately 34,000 customers at the time the deal closed.[17]
In October 2016, WOW! came to an agreement withMidcoto sell its systems inLawrence, Kansas.These systems currently pass approximately 67,000 homes and businesses in the area.[18]
On June 28, 2017, WOW! officially no longer serves the Lawrence, Kansas area.[19]
On March 6, 2018 WOW! announced that they had deployedDOCSIS 3.1to 95% of their footprint, one of the first cable operators to reach that near-ubiquitous threshold.[20]
On June 30, 2021 WOW! stated that it is selling its Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, service areas to Atlantic Broadband (since renamedBreezeline) for $1.13 billion;[21]it closed the deal on September 1, 2021.[22]Also on June 30, WOW! announced the sale of its systems in Chicago; Evansville, Indiana; and Anne Arundel, Maryland toAstound Broadbandfor $661 million.[21]
On May 15, 2023, WOW! has announced that it would discontinue its in-house TV services, including WOW! TV+ and migrating its video customers toYouTube TVacross its footprint. WOW! will still maintain its current cable TV system while the said migration takes place. This move would free up bandwidth for the company's ISP overall.[23]
Internet availability by state
[edit]State | Population Covered by WOW![24] |
---|---|
Michigan | 1,872,510 |
Alabama | 624,373 |
Illinois | 1,604,922 |
South Carolina | 260,525 |
Florida | 804,094 |
Indiana | 317,809 |
Georgia | 474,460 |
Tennessee | 139,600 |
Network availability by city
[edit]City | Homes passed[25] | Coaxial Miles | Fiber Miles | Total Network Miles |
---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit, MI | 706,366 | 6,286 | 2,155 | 8,441 |
Chicago, IL | 488,219 | 3,242 | 1,073 | 4,315 |
Pinellas, FL | 297,635 | 3,441 | 586 | 4,027 |
Huntsville, AL | 127,211 | 1,943 | 454 | 2,397 |
Baltimore, MD(Broadstripe) | 110,806 | 1,226 | 427 | 1,653 |
Montgomery, AL | 107,554 | 1,303 | 336 | 1,639 |
Evansville, IN | 105,939 | 1,323 | 459 | 1,782 |
Augusta, GA | 96,887 | 1,356 | 448 | 1,804 |
Charleston, SC | 93,599 | 1,209 | 563 | 1,772 |
Lansing, MI | 92,533 | 2,045 | 732 | 2,777 |
Columbus, GA | 86,131 | 1,033 | 300 | 1,333 |
Panama City, FL | 84,228 | 951 | 218 | 1,169 |
Knoxville, TN | 54,597 | 764 | 317 | 1,081 |
Newnan, GA | 43,440 | 838 | 352 | 1,190 |
Dothan, AL | 33,184 | 547 | 214 | 761 |
West Point, GA | 17,748 | 336 | 338 | 674 |
Auburn, AL | 15,251 | 188 | 202 | 390 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab"WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 Annual Report (Form 10-K)"(PDF).ir.wowway.Wide Open West. December 2020.
- ^ab"WideOpenWest, Inc. 2019 Annual Report (Form 10-K)"(PDF).ir.wowway.Wide Open West. March 2020.
- ^"WOW! Internet Cable and Phone - Bundle offers and support".WowWay.Wide Open West.Retrieved2016-08-20.
- ^"WideOpenWest, Inc. - investor relations".ir.wowway.Retrieved2023-01-27.
- ^"About WOW!".WowWay.Wide Open West.Retrieved2016-08-31.
- ^"WOW! REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2022 RESULTS".WideOpenWest, Inc.November 3, 2022.Retrieved2023-01-27.
- ^"News"(PDF).wowway.WideOpenWest.
- ^"10-K"(PDF).wowway.WideOpenWest.
- ^"SBC Sells For a Song".Multichannel News.
- ^"Waller Advises Sale".
- ^"WOW! to Acquire Knology for $19.75 Per Share in Cash".BusinessWire.2012-04-18.
- ^PrairieWave Change Causes E-mail Glitches
- ^"Knology Announces Closing of $75 Million Graceba Acquisition".Reuters.January 4, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon September 11, 2012.
- ^Lawhorn, Chad (January 18, 2011)."Sunflower Broadband's new owners change name to Knology".Lawrence Journal-World.Retrieved24 July2013.
- ^"WOW! sells off SD systems to Clarity for $262M".Retrieved2015-09-24.
- ^"Vast Broadband Launches In SD".12 March 2015.Retrieved2015-09-24.
- ^"WOW! Closes Acquisition of NuLink to Provide High-Speed Internet, Cable TV and Phone Service to Metro Atlanta"(PDF).wowway.September 12, 2016.RetrievedDecember 17,2016.
- ^"Midco to Acquire WOW! System in Lawrence, KS"(PDF).wowway.October 21, 2016.RetrievedDecember 17,2016.
- ^"MidCo".wowway.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-11-09.Retrieved2017-07-07.
- ^"WOW! 1 Gig Internet Speeds Now Available to More Than 95 Percent of Customers"(PDF).WOW!.2018-03-06.Retrieved2018-06-19.
- ^ab"WideOpenWest sells 5 service areas for $1.8B".teletrader.Retrieved2021-06-30.
- ^Reading 9/1/2021, News Wire Feed Light."Atlantic Broadband wraps buy of two WOW systems".Light Reading.Retrieved2021-09-07.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^A small cable company is going all in on YouTube TV for video-The Verge(published May 15, 2023)
- ^"WOW! Availability by State".broadbandnow.Retrieved2017-01-16.
- ^"WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 10-K"(PDF).ir.wowway.2020-12-31.Retrieved2021-06-01.
External links
[edit]- Cable television companies of the United States
- Companies based in Englewood, Colorado
- American companies established in 1996
- Telecommunications companies established in 1996
- Economy of the Midwestern United States
- Internet service providers of the United States
- Telecommunications companies of the United States
- Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- 2017 initial public offerings
- 1996 establishments in Colorado