Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR)

Charter Communications, which sells internet, mobile and TV service under the Spectrum brand, completed its combination with Cox Communications and its purchase of Liberty Broadband on 19 August 2026 4. Cox Enterprises received cash and units in Charter's operating partnership, and Charter says the Cox family company now owns about 26 percent of Charter on a fully diluted basis 5. On 16 September, Spectrum's prices and packages reached about 11 million homes and businesses in former Cox markets such as Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego 10.

The deal arrived while the core business was shrinking: second-quarter 2026 revenue fell 1.7 percent to $13.5 billion, and Charter lost 172,000 internet customers in the quarter 1. Mobile was the bright spot, with 406,000 lines added to reach 12.5 million 1. Chief executive Chris Winfrey said Charter operates "in a competitive environment across all of our products" 1.

The top of the company is changing at the same time 6712. Finance chief Jessica Fischer resigned to take another job and was to serve through 15 October, with chief accounting officer Kevin Howard named interim finance chief 6. Howard signed the 27 October filings in that role 8.

Nick Jeffery, former chief executive of Frontier Communications, became chief operating officer on 1 September, and chief commercial officer Adam Ray stepped down on 12 October 127.

The open question is how the larger company performs: Charter reports third-quarter results on 6 November 2026, the first to include Cox after the 19 August closing 114.

Charter was founded in 1993 as a cable TV company 3. Years of net losses, which it blamed largely on the interest on its debt, led it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 27 March 2009 25. It emerged on 30 November 2009 with about $8 billion less debt, cutting its interest bill by about $830 million a year 25.

The company of today was built on 18 May 2016, when Charter completed its merger with Time Warner Cable and bought Bright House Networks from Advance/Newhouse 19. Bright House alone cost about $12.2 billion, paid partly in cash and partly in preferred and common units of Charter's operating partnership 19. Revenue jumped from $9.8 billion in 2015 to $29.0 billion in 2016 and $41.6 billion in 2017, the first full year with all three companies 1920.

Its plan was to put the acquired systems on Spectrum's standard prices by the middle of 2017 and to bring their offshore call centers back to the United States 19.

At the end of the second quarter of 2018 Charter launched Spectrum Mobile, a phone service for its internet customers that runs on Verizon's network under a reseller agreement 20. Revenue grew 4.9 percent that year, which the company put down to more internet and business customers, price rises and the new mobile service 20.

The pandemic year of 2020 brought a rush of internet customers, helped by free service for households with students and a pledge not to cut off customers who could not pay 21. Revenue rose 5.1 percent to $48.1 billion, even after $218 million of credits for canceled sports and $102 million of waived bills 21.

Growth then slowed 2223. Revenue grew 4.5 percent in 2022 to $54.0 billion, the year Charter began its subsidized program to build its network into rural areas 223.

In 2023 it rose only 1.1 percent, as video kept shrinking and a fee dispute briefly took Disney's channels off Charter's TV service, costing $68 million in customer credits 23. The September 2023 agreement that ended the dispute became a template, folding programmers' streaming apps into Charter's TV packages 23.

In 2024 Charter lost 508,000 internet customers, hurt by the end of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, a broadband subsidy 24. Mobile kept growing, with 2,117,000 lines added, and revenue edged up 0.9 percent to $55.1 billion 24.

Revenue slipped 0.6 percent in 2025 to $54.8 billion, as Charter had fewer customers, booked more of the TV bill as the cost of the included streaming apps and sold less advertising 3. It still added 1.9 million mobile lines 3. In May 2025 it agreed to combine with Cox Communications, whose family owners bought their first cable franchise in 1962 26.

Spectrum Internet

Spectrum Internet is home broadband over Charter's network of fiber and coaxial cable, with speeds up to 1 gigabit per second everywhere and faster in parts of the footprint 3. It is the biggest line: $23.8 billion of revenue in 2025, 43 percent of the total (computed), up 1.7 percent on price rises even as customers fell by 393,000 3. At 30 June 2026 Charter served 29.4 million internet customers 1.

Charter cites Opensignal's May 2026 report to call it the most reliable internet among the five largest national providers 1. In the American Customer Satisfaction Index's 2026 study, Cox, now part of Charter, scored 72 out of 100 among providers without fiber, up 6 percent 28. Its main rivals are fiber from AT&T and Verizon, reaching about 27 and 16 percent of Charter's footprint, plus home internet sent over cell networks 3.

Spectrum Mobile

Spectrum Mobile is a phone plan sold only to Spectrum Internet customers, carried over Charter's WiFi hotspots and Verizon's cell network 3. Mobile service revenue grew 22.0 percent in 2025 to $3.8 billion, and lines reached 12.5 million at 30 June 2026 31. Unlimited plans run from $30 to $50 a month per line for customers taking at least two lines 10.

Reviews.org rated it 3.8 out of 5 in September 2026, calling it cheap Verizon service with a free line for a year, "but only if you're a Spectrum Internet customer first" 27. Charter, citing Opensignal's April 2026 report, says Spectrum Mobile has faster download speeds than AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon 1. In July 2025 Charter signed a multi-year deal to use T-Mobile's network for business customers, set to launch in 2026 3.

Spectrum TV

Video revenue fell 9.4 percent in 2025 to $13.7 billion, as customers left pay TV and Charter booked part of the bill as the cost of the streaming apps it now includes 3. Stream TV Signature, with more than 150 channels and apps such as HBO Max and the Disney+ Hulu bundle, starts at $100 a month 10. Video losses slowed to 21,000 customers in the second quarter of 2026 from 80,000 a year earlier, which Charter credits to simpler packages and the included apps 1.

New TV customers get a Xumo Stream Box, which puts live TV and streaming apps on one screen 3. The rivals are streaming bundles such as YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV, satellite services and Verizon's TV service 3.

Voice

Home phone service is fading: revenue fell 6.0 percent in 2025 to $1.35 billion, and voice customers numbered 5.7 million at 30 June 2026 31.

Spectrum Business

Spectrum Business sells internet, phone, mobile and TV to small firms, and fiber links, networking and managed services to larger firms and governments 3. Small business revenue was $4.3 billion in 2025 and mid-market and large business revenue $3.0 billion, up 3.2 percent 3. Cox brought Cox Business, Segra, a fiber carrier for enterprises and carriers, and RapidScale, a cloud services provider 5.

Advertising, news and sports

Spectrum Reach sells local advertising on cable networks and streaming; ad revenue fell 17.6 percent in 2025 to $1.5 billion 3. It rose 12.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026, mainly on political spending 1. Charter runs more than 35 local news channels, including Spectrum News NY1, holds Los Angeles Lakers rights through 2032 and owns 35.0 percent of SportsNet New York 3.

The network and the plants

Charter's main assets are its cable plant, headends and customer equipment, mostly strung on utility poles under rental agreements, and it leases most offices 3. It is widening the network's capacity to 1.2 GHz and then 1.8 GHz with DOCSIS 4.0, work it expects to be largely complete by the end of 2027 3. Since early 2022 it has spent $7.7 billion building into rural areas, activating about 1.3 million new homes and businesses it can serve 3.

It owns 210 licenses in CBRS, a shared radio band, to build its own 5G data network on small cell sites 3. Headquarters are at 400 Washington Boulevard in Stamford, Connecticut 3.

The people

Chris Winfrey is president and chief executive, and Alex Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Cox Enterprises, became board chairman at the closing 54. Kevin Howard, at Charter since 2002, is interim finance chief while a search runs, and Nick Jeffery, who ran Frontier Communications, is chief operating officer 612. Charter had about 91,900 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2025, with a starting wage of at least $20 an hour 3.

At the April 2026 annual meeting, holders backed adding 16.0 million shares to the stock incentive plan by 90.8 million votes to 37.5 million 13.

Rivals

The rivals are the phone companies' fiber and fixed wireless lines, the national mobile carriers, and streaming and satellite TV 3. Winfrey has said "Each of the cable companies is a regional competitor" and that all of them face national and global competitors 30. Fierce Network notes that the broadband footprints of Charter and Comcast do not overlap, which has long limited competition between them 30.

Problems

Customer losses are the central problem: total customer relationships fell 1.7 percent in the year to 30 June 2026, to 31.5 million 1. Debt is heavy, with $93.8 billion of principal at 30 June 2026, about 4.18 times a year of adjusted EBITDA, a measure of cash profit 12. About $12 billion of Cox debt and finance leases stayed at Charter's subsidiaries 4.

California's attorney general and the Alameda County district attorney have been investigating its waste disposal since January 2014, and it faces several patent suits 3. Its rural grants carry building milestones, and missing them could bring financial penalties 3.

The umbrella, in words

Spectrum is the consumer brand, with Spectrum Business for companies, Spectrum Reach for advertising and Spectrum Community Solutions for apartment buildings 3. The subsidiaries exhibit of its newest annual report lists the operating companies, among them the Bright House Networks companies, the Bresnan Broadband companies and Time Warner Cable entities 18. The annual report names no plants or acreage beyond its cable plant, signal sites, offices and service vehicles 3.

Cox Enterprises reports holding 28.7 percent of Class A stock, counted as if its units were exchanged, Advance/Newhouse 14.35 percent and the investment firm Dodge & Cox 12.6 percent 141516. Cox may vote shares only up to 30 percent and Advance/Newhouse up to 15 percent, and votes above those caps follow the public holders 4. Each may name up to three directors of the thirteen, and Cox holds one share of a new Class C stock whose votes mirror its units 4.

Liberty Broadband's preferred holders received 7.2 million Charter preferred shares, which pay 7 percent a year and must be redeemed on 9 March 2039 9. Charter owns 49.99 percent of the common stock of comScore, the audience measurement company, after taking over Liberty Broadband's holding 17.

Charter will publish third-quarter results at 7:00 in the morning, Eastern time, on 6 November 2026, with a webcast at 8:30 11. Before then, on 18 August, it sold $4.75 billion of secured notes due between 2032 and 2056 (computed) 34.

When the deal was announced in May 2025, the companies said the combined company would take the name Cox Communications within a year after closing, keeping Spectrum as the consumer brand 26. It is to stay headquartered in Stamford, with a large presence on Cox's Atlanta campus 26. Under the new stockholders agreement, Taylor chairs the board for an initial three-year term, and Winfrey is then to become chairman 4.

Charter expects 2026 capital spending, leaving out Cox, of about $11.4 billion 1. It plans to lower its long-term debt target to 3.5 times adjusted EBITDA after the closing and expects to reduce its debt to get there 2. Spectrum expects to finish its network upgrade, bringing equal upload and download speeds of several gigabits, in 2027 1.

Over the next 18 months Spectrum plans to bring Cox's customer service fully back to the United States 5. Within a year, Cox customers are to get Spectrum's service commitments, such as credits for outages longer than two hours 5. Including what it has spent, Charter expects to invest more than $8 billion in the rural build, partly offset by over $2 billion of government support awarded through 2025 3.

Spectrum Business is to start using T-Mobile's network in 2026 3. The search for a permanent finance chief continues, Adam Ray stays on as an adviser through 31 December 2026, and the next preferred dividend is payable on 15 January 2027 678. The Lakers rights run through 2032 and the SportsNet LA agreements through 2038 3.

The new directors' restricted stock vests at the 2027 annual meeting 4. Jeffery's employment agreement as chief operating officer runs to 1 September 2029, subject to renewal 12.

Past

Revenue grew from $29 billion in fiscal 2016 to $55 billion in fiscal 2025, up 7.3% a year, rising in 8 of 9 years with a deepest fall of 1% from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025, and the company was profitable in all 10 filed years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025, the diluted share count shrank about 5.7% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 21% of operating cash flow. In fiscal 2016, the net worth was $50.37 billion; it has moved about 9.5% a year down since. 12

Present

For the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, the company reported revenue of $55 billion and a profit of $5.0 billion. Return on equity was about 24 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, it owed about 87 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 5.2% over the year. Revenue of $55 billion ranks in the top 9% by size in its industry family; a net margin of 9.1% ranks in the top 36%; revenue growth of 0.5% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the bottom 42%. 31

The chief executive is Winfrey, Christopher L, filing under that title since 2023-01-19, 3.8 years; the 24 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have been on the record a median of 10.3 years; 15 officer or director changes were reported on Form 8-K since 2023-10-21. 1

Future

A quarterly report (Form 10-Q) for the quarter ending 2026-09-30 is due by 2026-11-09. An annual report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-03-01. 4

Cash of $477 million against debt of $94 billion leaves negative 60.6% of assets as net cash, in the bottom 25% of its family; cash from operations less capital spending is 8.1% of revenue, in the bottom 34%. Revenue grew 0.5% a year over the last three filed years against 7.3% over all 10, slowing; the newest year grew negative 0.6%; capital spending grew 7.5% a year. Revenue of $55 billion in fiscal 2025 came in 1.5% below the $56 billion its prior three years' pace pointed to; net income of $5.0 billion against a prior three-year average of $4.9 billion. 1

How the company operates

The company is a subscription business classified under Cable & Other Pay Television Services. In fiscal 2025, the Residential Internet Product Line made up 43% of revenue, the Residential Video Product Line 25%, the Commercial Small and Medium Business Product Line 8%, the Residential Mobile Service Product Line 7%, Other Services 6%, the Commercial Enterprise Product Line 5%, Advertising sales 3%, and the Residential Voice Product Line 3%. 3

New moves

On 2026-08-26 and 2026-08-24, the company filed Form 8-K current reports showing a major agreement signed and new debt or an obligation taken on. On 2026-08-18, an 8-K reported a major agreement signed and new debt or an obligation taken on. On 2026-08-12, an 8-K reported a major agreement signed and new debt or an obligation taken on. 4

Paramount is cleared to buy Warner Bros. , with consent from twelve states; at least 30 films a year in theaters for 45 days, separate cable negotiations, and forced sale of Miramax or six cable channels for a breach; the companies expect to close on 6 October; Charter is adjacent to the event. 5