Cablevision Systems announced Monday that it will acquire Bresnan Communications, Colorado’s second-largest cable-TV provider, for $1.4 billion.
For Bresnan’s subscribers, the deal could lead to additional services — such as more high-definition programming — and bigger discounts on video, voice and Internet bundles, Cablevision officials said.
The company thinks it can offer a triple play of services “at lower prices than people are currently paying,” Cablevision chief operating officer Tom Rutledge told analysts Monday.
Bresnan serves 320,000 customers in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana. The company has 80,000 subscribers in Colorado, serving the Western Slope, Eastern Plains and the southern part of the state.
Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision serves about 5 million customers in the New York metro area.
Rutledge said Bresnan’s service territory may see greater capital investments, noting that Cablevision generates nearly twice as much cash as Bresnan does for each home it reaches.
“We have similar rates to Bresnan at Cablevision, so the opportunity is not in rate increases,” Rutledge said. “It is in growing the amount of services to all potential customers in these communities, as well as adding new services to existing subscribers.”
The deal is expected to be completed later this year or early 2011.
Cablevision will set up a subsidiary to house Bresnan, and the acquisition will be financed by $1 billion of nonrecourse debt, a type of borrowing that is backed by collateral and does not leave the borrower on the hook in a default. Cablevision will pony up the rest.
The deal follows an auction that involved bids from some of the nation’s largest cable companies. Ascent Media Corp., which is controlled by media mogul John Malone, was a bidder for Bresnan, as were cable companies Charter Communications and Suddenlink Communications, and private investment firm TPG Capital, according to a person familiar with the talks but who was not authorized to discuss private bids. Time Warner Cable also put in a bid, but its offer did not survive the first round, the person said.
Comcast is Colorado’s largest cable provider with 840,000 subscribers in the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@ or
A look at the state’s providers
Cable-TV providers in Colorado, subscribers and primary service territory:
Comcast – 840,000 subscribers, from Fort Collins to Pueblo along the Front Range, from metro Denver to Glenwood Springs and Aspen along the Interstate 70 corridor.
Bresnan – 80,000, Western Slope and Eastern Plains and southern Colorado, including Grand Junction, Durango, Cañon City, Lamar, Fort Morgan, Sterling, Alamosa, Craig, Montrose and Salida.
US Cable – 6,000, Johnstown, Arvada, Teller County.
Baja Broadband – 6,000, Fort Carson, Cortez, Estes Park, Springfield and Las Animas.
Rocky Mountain Cable – 4,000, mostly southwestern Colorado, such as Durango. Also serves Central City and Black Hawk.
Time Warner – 3,300, Gunnison and Telluride.
Note: Providers may serve more areas than listed.
Source: Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association
