Wide Open West

WideOpenWest (doing business as WOW![3]) is the eighth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 1.9 million homes and businesses.[4] The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services.[5] As of November 3, 2022, WOW! has about 538,100 subscribers.[6]

"WOW!" redirects here. For other uses, see Wow (disambiguation).
WideOpenWest, Inc.
TypePublic
NYSE: WOW
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryTelecommunications
PredecessorAmericast, Knology
FoundedNovember 1996 (1996-11)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado
,
U.S.
Area served
Key people
Teresa Elder
(President & CEO)
John Rego
(CFO)
Bill Case
(CIO)
Henry Hryckiewicz
(CTO)
ProductsBroadband
Cable television
IPTV
Digital cable
Digital telephone
HDTV
Internet
Internet security
VoIP phone
BrandsWOW!
RevenueIncreaseUS$1,148.4 million(2020)[1]
DecreaseUS$22.2 million(2020)[2]
DecreaseUS$14.4 million(2020)[2]
Total assetsIncreaseUS$2,487.0 million(2020)[1]
SubsidiariesBroadstripe
Websitewww.wowway.com

After a 2017 initial public offering, WideOpenWest is publicly traded with Avista Capital Partners and 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

WOW! was founded in November 1996 in Denver, Colorado. After building a network in April 2001, WOW! initially served about 200 people in the Denver area. In November 2001, WOW! purchased Americast, an overbuild system in the Midwest built and operated by Ameritech New Media for an undisclosed amount per subscriber, estimated to have been at a cost of $600 per sub. This purchase opened WOW! to over 310,000 new customers in metropolitan areas surrounding the cities of Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Denver, and Evansville.[9] WOW! no longer serves the Columbus, Cleveland, or Denver markets.

Avista Capital Partners completed its acquisition of cable operator WideOpenWest (“WOW!”) from Oak Hill Capital Partners and ABRY Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.[10]

On August 23, 2011, Wave Broadband and WOW! announced that they entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets of Broadstripe LLC, a provider of residential and commercial bundled communications services. On January 14, WOW! completed the acquisition of Broadstripe's cable systems in Michigan.

In April 2012, WOW! purchased Knology, 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 as Vast Broadband.[16]

In September 2016, WOW! purchased NuLink, a cable company serving Newnan, Georgia with approximately 34,000 customers at the time the deal closed.[17]

In October 2016, WOW! came to an agreement with Midco to sell its systems in Lawrence, 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 deployed DOCSIS 3.1 to 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 renamed Breezeline) 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 to Astound Broadband for $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 to YouTube TV across 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
StatePopulation Covered by WOW![24]
Michigan1,872,510
Alabama624,373
Illinois1,604,922
South Carolina260,525
Florida804,094
Indiana317,809
Georgia474,460
Tennessee139,600

Network availability by city
CityHomes passed[25]Coaxial MilesFiber MilesTotal Network Miles
Detroit, MI706,3666,2862,1558,441
Chicago, IL488,2193,2421,0734,315
Pinellas, FL297,6353,4415864,027
Huntsville, AL127,2111,9434542,397
Baltimore, MD (Broadstripe)110,8061,2264271,653
Montgomery, AL107,5541,3033361,639
Evansville, IN105,9391,3234591,782
Augusta, GA96,8871,3564481,804
Charleston, SC93,5991,2095631,772
Lansing, MI92,5332,0457322,777
Columbus, GA86,1311,0333001,333
Panama City, FL84,2289512181,169
Knoxville, TN54,5977643171,081
Newnan, GA43,4408383521,190
Dothan, AL33,184547214761
West Point, GA17,748336338674
Auburn, AL15,251188202390

See also

References
  1. "WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 Annual Report (Form 10-K)" (PDF). ir.wowway.com. Wide Open West. December 2020.
  2. "WideOpenWest, Inc. 2019 Annual Report (Form 10-K)" (PDF). ir.wowway.com. Wide Open West. March 2020.
  3. "WOW! Internet Cable and Phone - Bundle offers and support". WowWay.com. Wide Open West. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  4. "WideOpenWest, Inc. - investor relations". ir.wowway.com. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. "About WOW!". WowWay.com. Wide Open West. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  6. "WOW! REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2022 RESULTS". WideOpenWest, Inc. November 3, 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  7. "News" (PDF). wowway.com. WideOpenWest.
  8. "10-K" (PDF). wowway.com. WideOpenWest.
  9. "SBC Sells For a Song". Multichannel News.
  10. "Waller Advises Sale".
  11. "WOW! to Acquire Knology for $19.75 Per Share in Cash". BusinessWire.com. 2012-04-18.
  12. PrairieWave Change Causes E-mail Glitches
  13. "Knology Announces Closing of $75 Million Graceba Acquisition". Reuters. January 4, 2008. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012.
  14. Lawhorn, Chad (January 18, 2011). "Sunflower Broadband's new owners change name to Knology". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  15. "WOW! sells off SD systems to Clarity for $262M". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  16. "Vast Broadband Launches In SD". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  17. "WOW! Closes Acquisition of NuLink to Provide High-Speed Internet, Cable TV and Phone Service to Metro Atlanta" (PDF). www.wowway.com. September 12, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  18. "Midco to Acquire WOW! System in Lawrence, KS" (PDF). www.wowway.com. October 21, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  19. "MidCo". www.wowway.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  20. "WOW! 1 Gig Internet Speeds Now Available to More Than 95 Percent of Customers" (PDF). WOW!. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
  21. "WideOpenWest sells 5 service areas for $1.8B". www.teletrader.com. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  22. Reading 9/1/2021, News Wire Feed Light. "Atlantic Broadband wraps buy of two WOW systems". Light Reading. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  23. A small cable company is going all in on YouTube TV for video - The Verge (published May 15, 2023)
  24. "WOW! Availability by State". broadbandnow.com. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
  25. "WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 10-K" (PDF). ir.wowway.com. 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
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