Broadstripe is a telecommunications and cable company owned by WideOpenWest and Anne Arundel Broadband, with WideOpenWest holding a majority stake in the company.
Serving communities in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, Broadstripe serves residential customers with WOW! serving business customers, with entertainment and communications products including digital cable, home phone and broadband internet services.
History
In 1998, John Brooks, co-founder of Brooks Fiber Media, along with former
Charter Communications, Inc.
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, ...
executives Kelvin Westbrook, Jeffrey Sander and Charles Prayer, Jr. formed Millennium Digital Media (Millennium.) In September 2006, Millennium named Bill Shreffler, president and chief executive officer. Millennium officially changed its name to Broadstripe in October 2007. In November of that year, Broadstripe attempted to acquire James Cable LLC of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan for $125 million, the deal eventually fell through between the two companies. Since then, the cable provider has reorganized its leadership team, adding a number of telecommunications industry veterans, including its chief executive Gustavo Prilick in August 2008. According to an August 2009 article in the ''
St. Louis Business Journal
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'', Broadstripe spent nearly $20 million upgrading its network and overhauling customer care operations.
Bankruptcy
On January 2, 2009, Broadstripe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in St. Louis, MO. Growing mostly via acquisition, efforts to increase margins were unsatisfactory due to increased competition from satellite providers, and two land-line based competitors in Maryland. In an effort to reduce debt, management attempted to sell parts of the company to competitors, but was unsuccessful.
The company has reported a $2.63 million net loss in September, 2010 on revenue of $7.68 billion. Depreciation and amortization for the month totaled $2.2 million. Also, Broadstripe was authorized in October to adopt a bonus program for 12 executives that may cost as much as $446,000. To qualify, the cable system for which the employees work must be sold.
In February 2010, the company launched a 60-day, money-back guarantee program offering both new and existing residential customers 60 days to test new services from the cable provider’s offerings. According to the company, if the customer is not satisfied or has issues, Broadstripe will pay for the subscriber to restore service with their old provider.
Sale of Systems
On August 26, 2011 Broadstripe announced the sale of its Michigan cable system to
WideOpenWest
WideOpenWest (doing business as WOW!) is the sixth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 3,248,600 homes and businesses. The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services. ...
(WOW!). On the same date it announced the sale of its Oregon and Washington cable systems to WaveDivision's
Wave Broadband
WaveDivision Holdings, LLC, doing business as Wave Broadband, is an American provider of residential, business, and enterprise class cable TV, broadband Internet, and telephone services to around 455,000 customers in Washington, Oregon, and Ca ...
unit. Its Maryland system was sold to Anne Arundel Broadband, and will be operated under the Broadstripe name by former Broadstripe Management. These sales closed on January 13, 2012.
In October 2014 WideOpenWest (WOW!) acquired a majority ownership in the Maryland system owned by Anne Arundel Broadband operating as Broadstripe, making Broadstripe a subsidiary of WOW!
Services
Broadstripe offers the following services:
* Digital Cable, which includes commercial-free music channels,
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
movies and television shows, premium and
High-Definition (HD) channels.
* Internet, offering speeds from 100mbps-1000mbps
* VoIP Phone Service
References
External links
Home pageMulti-Channel NewsSouth Lyon Herald
{{CATV USA
Cable television companies of the United States
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009
Broadband
Companies based in Missouri
Telecommunications companies established in 1998
Defunct companies based in Missouri