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Mediacom

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For the WPP Group company, see MediaCom.
Mediacom Communications Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedJuly 1995; 29 years ago (1995-07)[1]
FounderRocco B. Commisso[1]
Headquarters
Blooming Grove, New York
,
USA
Area served
Primarily Midwest, Southeastern United States
Key people
Rocco B. Commisso (Chairman, CEO, majority shareholder)[1]
ProductsCable television, Broadband Internet access, Cable telephony
RevenueIncrease$1.460 Billion (2009)[1]:37
Increase$299.761 Million (2009)[1]:37
Increase$744.067 Million (2009)[1]:37
Total assetsIncrease$3.977 Billion (2009)[1]:37
Total equityIncrease$268.028 Million (2009)[1]:37
OwnerRocco B. Commisso (87.2% vote)[1]:32
Number of employees
4,500 (2009)[1]
SubsidiariesMediacom LLC
Mediacom Broadband LLC[1]:26
Websitehttp://www.mediacomcable.com
Mediacom Communications Corporation Headquarters in Blooming Grove, NY

Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995; 29 years ago (1995-07) by Seth Miller,[1] it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011, owned by CEO Rocco B. Commisso.[2]

Coverage

Mediacom offers service in 23 states.[3] About 55% of Mediacom's subscription base is in the 60th through 100th ranked television markets. It is the largest cable company in Iowa and second largest in Illinois.[1]

Examples of cities with Mediacom service include Albany, Columbus, Tifton and Valdosta in Georgia; Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines in Iowa; Columbia, Jefferson City and Springfield in Missouri and the Quad Cities on the Iowa/Illinois border. Mediacom also serves outlying areas on the Florida Gulf Coast and around Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1]:7

The Mediacom annual report describes Mediacom as the eighth largest cable company, with 1,238,000 basic subscribers at the end of 2009;[1]:5 the National Cable & Telecommunications Association ranks Mediacom as the 12th largest as of March 2010, with 1,234,000 subscribers.[4] Of 2,800,000 "homes passed" (places where Mediacom service can be ordered), 44% of have subscribed to basic cable with Mediacom, and 27.8% have subscribed to Mediacom Internet service. Of homes with basic cable, 54.8% also have "digital cable" service. Counting basic cable, digital cable, high-speed data, and cable telephony as separate revenue, Mediacom had 2,981,000 revenue generating units (RGUs) at the end of 2009.[1]:6 52% of customers had at least two of video, Internet, and phone from Mediacom, and 18% had all three; over the previous five years, video decreased from 80% of Mediacom's revenue to 64%.[1]:7

Sports

Mediacom broadcasts local sports programming on its Connections channel, MC22, along with a simulcast of ESPNEWS. Other sports channels on the Mediacom lineup as of September 2015 include NFL Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network and the national feed of the YES Network. Mediacom does not carry NHL Network, MLB Network or NBA TV or Tennis Channel.

Reputation

In a survey conducted by Consumer Reports magazine in 2012, Mediacom is the worst cable provider in the country according to the 50,000 people polled.[5]

The September 28, 2012 edition of PC Magazine named Mediacom one of the nation’s top 15 fastest Internet Service Providers. [6]

The Des Moines Business Record in its 2012 Best of Des Moines issue gave Mediacom the top award for Best Local Internet Service Provider and Best Company Use of Social Media. [7]

As reported in the Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2012, in July 2012, Mediacom was named by the FCC as one of the nation’s top 4 Internet service providers when it comes to delivering advertised speeds to consumers. [8]

The February 2010 issue of Consumer Reports ranked Mediacom amongst the worst cable companies in the United States: 15th of 16 in TV service, 24th of 27 in Internet service, and last of 23 in phone service, based on surveys.[9][10] The deepening of this trend was affirmed in the June 2012 issue of Consumer Reports, in which Mediacom was identified as the worst-rated company in the United States regarding TV service, phone service and bundled telecom services, and the third worst ISP only above the two satellite internet companies Wild Blue and Hughes Net. [11]

Carriage disputes involving Mediacom

June 2015 carriage dispute with Granite Broadcasting

On June 1, 2015, Mediacom subscribers in three television markets served by Granite Broadcasting Corporation stations were unable to view those stations over Mediacom cable due to a carriage dispute between Mediacom and Granite Broadcasting over retransmission consent fees. The affected Granite Broadcasting stations included WEEK-TV in Peoria, Illinois, KBJR-TV in Superior, Wisconsin/Duluth, Minnesota, and WISE-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana, all three of which are primary NBC affiliates.[12] On June 11, 2015, Mediacom and Granite Broadcasting reached an agreement, thereby restoring Granite stations to Mediacom cable systems. The agreement came just in time for Game 5 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals which was broadcast on NBC two days later.[13]

July 2015 carriage dispute with Media General

On July 14, 2015, Media General pulled its stations off of Mediacom cable systems across the United States due to a carriage dispute over retransmission consent fees.[14] This carriage dispute saw Media General stations disappear from Mediacom lineups in 14 television markets across the United States and even three of the Fox affiliates owned by Media General were lost to Mediacom subscribers in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Topeka, Kansas just before the start of the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[15] On July 30, 2015, Mediacom and Media General reached a new agreement, thereby restoring Media General owned stations to Mediacom subscribers in the affected areas.[16]

Mediacom views on carriage disputes and retransmission blackouts

On July 7, 2015, Mediacom filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to limit or prevent blackouts of local broadcast stations during carriage disputes. According to Mediacom CEO Rocco Commisso, the FCC has frequently neglected to address concerns regarding retransmission consent and blackouts of local television stations, particularly in rural areas, where residents have a more difficult time receiving an acceptable over-the-air signal. Commisso's proposal was for local broadcasters not to terminate a cable or satellite provider's carriage of the station's signal at the end of a retransmission consent agreement if the station does not reach a minimum of 90 percent of its local viewers within its DMA either over-the-air or via its online stream. Commisso also made note of the fact that retransmission consent fees double every two or three years; something which never happens in any other industry.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Mediacom Communications Corporation (2010-05-10). "Annual Report to Shareholders (ARS) and Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2009". Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  2. ^ "Mediacom Communications and Rocco B. Commisso Complete Going-Private Transaction". Middletown, New York: BusinessWire/Berkshire Hathaway. 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  3. ^ "Mediacom Cable Overview and Coverage". broadbandnow.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  4. ^ "Top 25 Multichannel Video Programming Distributors as of Mar. 2010". National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  5. ^ http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20120507/NEWS01/120507008/Consumer-Reports-survey-Mediacom-is-the-worst?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1
  6. ^ PC Magazine: The Fastest ISPs in the U.S. 2012
  7. ^ Business Record: Best of Des Moines
  8. ^ FCC Reports Mediacom Consistently Delivers Advertised Internet Speeds
  9. ^ Smith, Will (2010-01-10). "Magazine pans Mediacom". The Hawk Eye. Burlington, Iowa. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  10. ^ Hicks, Lynn (2010-01-11). "Consumer Reports ranks Mediacom near bottom". Biz Buzz. Des Moines, Iowa: The Des Moines Register/Gannett. Retrieved 2010-07-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20120507/NEWS01/120507008/Consumer-Reports-survey-Mediacom-worst
  12. ^ Farrell, Mike (2015-06-01). "Granite Stations Blocked to Mediacom Customers". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  13. ^ Farrell, Mike (2015-06-11). "Mediacom, Granite Agree to Retrans Deal". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  14. ^ Seyler, Dave (2015-07-15). "Media General v. Mediacom". Television Business Report. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  15. ^ Farrell, Mike (2015-07-15). "Media General Stations Go Dark on Mediacom". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  16. ^ Eggerton, John (2015-07-30). "Mediacom, Media General Strike Retrans Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  17. ^ Eggerton, John (2015-07-07). "Exclusive: Mediacom Asks FCC to Limit Retrans Blackouts". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
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