Charter Communications CEO Christopher Winfrey lashed out at Wednesday’s Morgan Stanley investor conference against cable TV’s rapidly rising competition for fixed wireless access, repeatedly calling the technology “inferior.” product,” and repeatedly labeled it “mobile phone internet.”
“That’s mobile internet,” Winfrey repeatedly declared, noting that the cable industry “needs to do a better job of marketing” against rapidly emerging wireless competitors. (You can access replays) Click here to see Winfrey’s Morgan Stanley appearance. )
“We need to clearly explain to our customers why prices are getting lower over time. [on FWA] That’s because you’re paying too much for your wireless line,” he explained.
Since launching their respective FWA platforms in 2021, T-Mobile and Verizon have come to dominate customer growth for home internet services.
“From an online advertising perspective, we’re in a lull right now,” Winfrey said, noting that consumers are less mobile and the effects of mass adoption of high-speed internet services during the pandemic are still being felt. did.
And there is new competition from FWA.
“Whenever a new competitor emerges within a market, there is always going to be disruption,” Winfrey said.
Meanwhile, Charter was also asked about the so-called “Supro” joint streaming venture recently announced by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros.’ Discovery.
“We don’t know much about the details and we don’t know if this deal is final, but whether it’s 60% or 65% of the sports content, it scratches the itch of sports fans. I don’t know if that’s the case,” Winfrey said.
In any case, he added: “Three of the greatest programmers decided that genre-based packaging was the way to go, and I agree with that. We’ve been saying that for decades. And if you It’s about taking a step back and acknowledging that that’s the way for programmers to go…and I fully expect that we’ll be able to distribute content in the same way. .”
