Cable giant Charter Communications is laying off 1,200 employees nationwide as the company faces increased competition for its broadband internet packages.
The company operates Spectrum cable TV and broadband service, which was once a huge growth engine. But the company has faced a steady drumbeat of subscriber losses, including shedding 177,000 internet customers in the first and second quarters of this year.
The company has nearly 30 million internet customers.
The layoffs, equivalent to a little more than1% of its workforce, hit corporate and management positions at Charter’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn., and centers in Charlotte, N.C.; Denver and St. Louis, according to a person familiar with the cuts but who was not authorized to comment.
No sales or service positions were eliminated, the person said, adding the cuts were part of an effort to streamline management functions. The company is scheduled to announce its third-quarter earnings next week.
In addition to its internet service, Charter provides bundles of cable television channels to 12.6 million customers.
It also has nearly 11 million mobile phone subscribers.
The move comes in advance of Charter’s planned takeover of Cox Communications, which also operates in Southern California. This week’s cuts were not related to the Cox transaction, the knowledgeable person said.
Charter’s $34.5-billion industry-consolidating deal with Cox, which was unveiled in May, needs regulatory approval but that process has been slowed by the federal government shutdown.
Charter reported that it had about 94,500 active full-time workers at the end of 2024.
The company’s stock is down 27% since the beginning of the year. On Wednesday, shares slipped around 1% in midday trading.
Broadband internet has been the company’s bright spot as revenue from cable TV packages steadily declined over the years amid consumer cord-cutting and the shift to streaming.
Charter recognized that trend and began offering streaming apps to its broadband customers to help with retention efforts.
Two years ago, the company suffered huge cable TV customer losses during its 10-day blackout of Walt Disney Co. channels, including ESPN, during a tense distribution battle.
Charter was able to wrangle the ability to offer Disney’s streaming apps, including Disney+ and Hulu, to Spectrum customers.
The company had already been undergoing scattered instances of belt-tightening.
In August, Charter canceled its award-winning El Segundo based news show, “LA Times Today,” a collaboration with the Los Angeles Times, which ran on the cable company’s Spectrum 1 news channel.
