Wide Open West
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | November 1996 |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado , United States |
Area served | Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee |
Key people | Teresa Elder (CEO), John Rego (CFO) |
| Products | Landline telephony, cable television, high-speed Internet access, broadband Internet, digital cable services, IPTV, VoIP telephone solutions, internet security products |
| Owner | Crestview Partners (37%) |
WideOpenWest, Inc., operating under the brand name WOW!, ranks as the eighth largest cable provider in the United States, servicing a network that extends to 1.9 million residential and commercial locations. The company delivers a range of services including landline telephony, cable television, and high-speed Internet access. As of November 3, 2022, WOW! catered to roughly 538,100 customers.
Since its initial public offering in 2017, WideOpenWest has been publicly listed, with Crestview Partners holding the largest ownership share at 37%, following the divestment of shares by Avista Capital Partners in 2019. The corporate headquarters is situated in Denver, Colorado, with operations spanning several states such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
WOW!’s range of offerings encompasses broadband Internet, digital cable services, IPTV, VoIP telephone solutions, and internet security products. In 2020, the company reported revenues totaling $1.15 billion alongside an operating income of $22.2 million and a net profit of $14.4 million. That fiscal year also saw total assets amounting to $2.49 billion. The executive leadership includes CEO Teresa Elder and CFO John Rego.
The company’s strategic approach centers on increasing its market presence through targeted acquisitions and broadening its service portfolio to stimulate growth within its core markets across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States.
History
WOW! was established in November 1996 in Denver, Colorado. Its network launch occurred in April 2001, initially serving approximately 200 customers within Denver. Later that year in November, WOW! expanded significantly by acquiring Americast, an overbuild system previously managed by Ameritech New Media. This acquisition added over 310,000 subscribers across major metropolitan areas including Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Denver, and Evansville. Nonetheless, WOW! eventually withdrew from the Columbus, Cleveland, and Denver markets.
The company changed hands when Avista Capital Partners purchased WOW! from Oak Hill Capital Partners and ABRY Partners in a transaction whose terms were not publicly disclosed.
On August 23, 2011, WOW! partnered with Wave Broadband to acquire the majority of assets from Broadstripe LLC, a provider of bundled communications services for residential and business customers. By January 2012, WOW! had completed the takeover of Broadstripe’s cable systems located in Michigan.
In April 2012, WOW! expanded its broadband reach by acquiring Knology, thereby increasing its presence to 13 markets and growing its subscriber base beyond 800,000. Prior to this acquisition, Knology had merged with Valley Telephone Company (1999), Prairiewave Communications (2007), Graceba Total Communications (2008), and Sunflower Broadband (2011).
In June 2014, WOW! divested its cable TV, Internet, and telephone operations in South Dakota to Clarity Telecom for $262 million; this sale included territories in Iowa and Minnesota that were originally served through Knology and PrairieWave Communications. These regions were rebranded as Vast Broadband by March 2015.
September 2016 saw WOW! acquire NuLink, a cable operator with approximately 34,000 customers based in Newnan, Georgia. The following month, WOW! agreed to transfer its Lawrence, Kansas systems—covering around 67,000 households and businesses—to Midco, concluding service there by June 2017.
On March 6, 2018, WOW! declared it had implemented DOCSIS 3.1 technology across 95% of its network footprint, placing it among the earliest cable companies to achieve such extensive deployment.
On June 30, 2021, WOW! completed the sale of its service areas in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio to Atlantic Broadband (now operating as Breezeline) for $1.13 billion; this transaction was finalized on September 1 of that year. Concurrently, WOW! sold systems serving Chicago; Evansville, Indiana; and Anne Arundel County in Maryland to Astound Broadband for $661 million.
On May 15, 2023, WOW! announced plans to discontinue its proprietary television services including WOW! TV+, transitioning video subscribers to YouTube TV throughout its service regions. Despite this shift, the company will retain its existing cable TV infrastructure during the migration period to optimize bandwidth allocation for Internet service offerings.
Internet coverage by state
| State | WOW! Population Reach |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 1,872,510 |
| Illinois | 1,604,922 |
| Florida | 804,094 |
| Alabama | 624,373 |
| Georgia | 474,460 |
| Indiana | 317,809 |
| South Carolina | 260,525 |
| Tennessee | 139,600 |
Network coverage by city
| City | Homes Passed | Coaxial Cable Miles | Fiber Optic Miles | Aggregate Network Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit, MI | 706,366 | 6,286 | 2,155 | 8,441 |
| Chicago, IL | 488,219 | 3,242 | 1,073 | 4,315 |
| Pinellas, FL | 297,635 | 3,441 | 586 | 4,027 |
| Huntsville, AL | 127,211 | 1,943 | 454 | 2,397 |
| Baltimore, MD (Broadstripe) | 110,806 | 1,226 | 427 | 1,653 |
| Montgomery, AL | 107,554 | 1,303 | 336 | 1,639 |
| Evansville, IN | 105,939 | 1,323 | 459 | 1,782 |
| Augusta, GA | 96,887 | 1,356 | 448 | 1,804 |
| Charleston, SC | 93,599 | 1,209 | 563 | 1,772 |
| Lansing, MI | 92,533 | 2,045 | 732 | 2,777 |
| Columbus, GA | 86,131 | 1,033 | 300 | 1,333 |
| Panama City, FL | 84,228 | 951 | 218 | 1,169 |
| Knoxville, TN | 54,597 | 764 | 317 | 1,081 |
| Newnan, GA | 43,440 | 838 | 352 | 1,190 |
| Dothan, AL | 33,184 | 547 | 214 | 761 |
| West Point, GA | 17,748 | 336 | 338 | 674 |