Altice USA—the parent company of cable brands Optimum and Suddenlink—is introducing new video service tiers that price in set-top boxes and channel fees.
TV service packages include $24/month Basic with more than 50 channels, $54/month Value with more than 225 channels, $69/month Select with more than 269 channels and $89/month Premier with more than 340 channels including HBO Max.
The company said that customers can also choose Stream, Altice USA’s new Android TV box that includes access to video content through streaming apps and services available on Google Play along with a free ad-supported streaming television service with 50 live streaming channels including News 12, i24NEWS, Cheddar News, Kabillion, Bon Appétit, Wired, Reelz and Stadium. The Stream device is free to Altice broadband subscribers with gigabit service but $5 per month with all other internet service tiers.
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The new video packages are being offered as part of Optimum and Suddenlink’s new FlexAbility service, which combines broadband, video and mobile at multiple different speeds, lineups, data limits and pricing.
“Optimum has thrown out contracts, bundles, and hidden fees for choice, transparency, and value. Optimum FlexAbility is a brand-new way for you to get exactly what you want at a great price. Add any Internet speed, any TV package, and any mobile data plan, any time you want without any charges for switching,” the company wrote on its website. “Most providers out there are literally the opposite of flexible. They force you to fit into their plans.”
FlexAbility is similar to the Mix & Match plans introduced last year by Verizon, which allow customers to choose from three broadband service options and then add video plans including YouTube TV, More Fios TV and The Most Fios TV.
Altice USA is building more flexibility into its video plans as the company continues to shed video subscribers. The company reported video net losses of 48,000 for the second quarter—a number than doesn’t account for the 12,000 Morris Broadband video subscribers it recently acquired. The company lost 35,000 video subscribers in the same quarter of 2020.