Cablevision targets FiOS subscribers with $69.99 triple-play offer

Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) is attempting to win back subscribers who have jumped to Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV with a $69.99 monthly triple-play offer for digital cable, high-speed Internet and voice service, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield said in a research note Tuesday.

Greenfield--who has criticized Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan for a management shakeup that saw the exit late last year of COO Tom Rutledge and president of cable communications John Bickham--says Dolan appears focused on targeting customers that the MSO has lost to Verizon with a new ad campaign that touts its high-speed Internet service. Cablevision lost 19,000 basic video customers during the third quarter.

"With Bickham and Rutledge gone, the Dolans now have the ability to re-orient Cablevision's operations," Greenfield said.

In addition to offering subscribers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that currently take FiOS TV or programming from DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) or Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) a $69.99 monthly triple-play package, Cablevision is charging just $79.99 monthly for the triple play if customers want to upgrade to its 50 Mbps Boost Plus high-speed service, Greenfield said. The MSO is also offering subscribers from competing multichannel providers a free year of HD DVR service and a free year of HBO.

Rutledge resigned from Cablevision on Dec. 15, and was later named CEO of Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR). The MSO hasn't yet named a successor, and said last month that it would conduct a search for an executive to oversee its cable operations.

For more:
- see Greenfield's note (registration required)

Special Report: Sizing up the cable industry in Q4 2011

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