 | |
 Headquarters inBlooming Grove, New York | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| NYSE: MCCC | |
| ISIN | US58446K1051 |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | July 1995; 30 years ago (1995-07)[1] |
| Founder | Rocco B. Commisso[1] |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | PrimarilyMidwest,Southeastern United States |
Key people | Rocco B. Commisso (chairman, CEO)[1] |
| Products | Cable television,broadband Internet access,cable telephony |
| Revenue |  $2,031.2 million (2019)[2] |
| $808.0 million (2019)[2] | |
| Owner | Rocco B. Commisso |
Number of employees | 4,500 (2009)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Mediacom LLC Mediacom Broadband LLC[1]:26 Mediacom Business[3] On Media |
| Website | www |
Mediacom Communications Corporation is theUnited States' fifth-largestcable television provider based on the number of video subscribers, and among the leading cable operators focused on serving smaller cities and towns. The company has a significant concentration of customers in the Midwest and Southeast, and is the largest broadband provider in Iowa.[4] Founded in 1995 byRocco B. Commisso,[1] the current owner of theNew York Cosmos andACF Fiorentina. Mediacom is headquartered inNew York and incorporated inDelaware, United States.[5] Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600 million transaction in March 2011 and is owned solely by Commisso as of 2011.[6]
Mediacom offers service in 22 states (per Mediacom employee as posted on workplace wall).[7] About 55% of Mediacom's subscription base is in the 60th- through 100th-rankedtelevision markets. It is the largest cable company in Iowa and second largest in Illinois.[1]
Examples of cities with Mediacom service includeAlbany,Columbus,Tifton andValdosta in Georgia;Iowa City,Cedar Rapids andDes Moines in Iowa;Columbia,Jefferson City andSpringfield in Missouri and theQuad Cities on the Iowa/Illinois border, andBaldwin City,Osage City,Lyndon,Douglas County,Osage County, and parts ofShawnee County in Kansas. Mediacom also serves outlying areas on theFlorida Gulf Coast and aroundMinneapolis, Minnesota.[1]:7
In February 2017, Multichannel News reported that Mediacom was the ninth-largest multichannel video programming distributor in the U.S. with 828,000 video customers.[8] Of 2.8 million "homes passed" (places where Mediacom service can be ordered), 44% 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.
Within the company's self-published 2019 financial report, Mediacom described itself as the "5th-largest cable operator in the U.S. serving almost 1.4 million customers".[2]
Countingbasic cable,digital cable,high-speed data, andcable telephony as separate revenue, Mediacom had 2.981 million revenue-generating units (RGUs) at the end of 2009.[1]:6 Fifty-two percent 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
According to a report published February 20, 2020, Mediacom's revenues were $2.0312 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019. This reflects a 3.8% increase from the prior year period. Additionally, OIBDA or "operating income before depreciation and amortization" for the same period was $806.4 million, which had a 8.5% increase from the previous year period. Free cash flow during the same period also saw an increase by 31.1%. This positive cash flow was $418.9 million.[2]
Mediacom broadcasts local sports programming on its Connections channel,MC22, along with a simulcast ofESPNews. Other sports channels on the Mediacom lineup as of September 2015 includeNFL Network,Big Ten Network,SEC Network and the national feed of theYES Network. Mediacom does not carryNHL Network,MLB Network orNBA TV.
Mediacom Communications was acknowledged by CableFax for having the best COVID-19 response in the cable industry.[9]
Mediacom's Molli was named the 2019 winner in the category of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning at Cablefax's Technology Awards . Mediacom is believed to be the first telecommunication company to create an AI-based system fully integrated with customer service functions. Customers interact with the virtual assistant via SMS text.[10]
TMT Magazine awarded Mediacom Communications the 2018 Telecoms Award for Best Cable Operator & ISP in the United States.[11]
In 2016, Mediacom Communications was named the Nations Top Communications Provider by the leading industry publication CableFax.[12]
In a 2016 telecom report conducted by ACSI, Mediacom occupied last place in customer satisfaction among all companies in the ACSI, regardless of industry.[13]
In a survey conducted byConsumer Reports magazine in 2012, Mediacom is the worst cable provider in the country according to the 50,000 people polled.[14]
The September 28, 2012 edition ofPC Magazine named Mediacom one of the nation's worst 15 fastest internet service providers.[15]
The Des MoinesBusiness 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.[16]
As reported in theChicago Tribune, July 19, 2012, Mediacom was named by theFCC as one of the nation's top 4 Internet service providers when it comes to delivering advertised speeds to consumers.[17]
The February 2010 issue ofConsumer Reports ranked Mediacom 15th of 16 in TV service, 24th of 27 in Internet service, and last of 23 in phone service, based on surveys.[18][19] The deepening of this trend was affirmed in the June 2012 issue ofConsumer Reports, in which Mediacom was poorly ranked regarding TV service, phone service and bundled telecom services, and the third worst ISP only above the two satellite internet companiesWild Blue andHughesNet.[14]
Mediacom makes low-cost plans available by participating in the Connect2Compete program via the nonprofit group EveryoneOn. This program offers cost assistance for wired home Internet access to Mediacom footprint residents who have school-aged children in the K–12 range. The purpose of this program is to provide online access to children for educational purposes and to help close the digital divide, a key issue receiving attention from the FCC in 2019.[20]
On June 1, 2015, Mediacom subscribers in three television markets served byGranite Broadcasting Corporation stations were unable to view those stations over Mediacom cable due to acarriage dispute between Mediacom and Granite Broadcasting overretransmission consent fees. The affected Granite Broadcasting stations includedWEEK-TV inPeoria, Illinois,KBJR-TV inSuperior, Wisconsin/Duluth, Minnesota, andWISE-TV inFort Wayne, Indiana, all three of which are primaryNBC affiliates.[21] 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 the2015 Stanley Cup Finals which wasbroadcast on NBC two days later.[22]
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.[23] This carriage dispute saw Media General stations disappear from Mediacom lineups in 14 television markets across the United States and even three of theFox affiliates owned by Media General were lost to Mediacom subscribers inHampton Roads, Virginia,Terre Haute, Indiana, andTopeka, Kansas just before the start of the2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[24] 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.[25]
On July 7, 2015, Mediacom filed a petition with theFederal Communications Commission to limit or preventblackouts 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 acceptableover-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 itsDMA 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.[26]
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