Charter Communications reported deeper broadband losses in the first quarter, even as mobile continued to grow and video customer losses narrowed, showing how the cable subscription model is shifting from automatic broadband growth to more defensive retention strategies.

The company reported Q1 2026 results on April 24, 2026. Spectrum Internet customers declined by 120,000 during the quarter, compared with a loss of 59,000 Internet customers in Q1 2025. As of March 31, 2026, Charter had 29.56 million Internet customers, down 1.5% year over year.

Mobile remained Charter’s clearest subscriber growth engine. The company added 368,000 Spectrum Mobile lines during the quarter, bringing total mobile lines to 12.134 million, up 17.1% from a year earlier. However, mobile additions were lower than the 507,000 lines Charter added in Q1 2025.

Video customer losses narrowed significantly. Charter lost 60,000 video customers in Q1 2026, compared with a loss of 181,000 video customers in the prior-year period. The company ended the quarter with 12.545 million total video customers, down 1.3% year over year.

Charter attributed the improvement in video customer losses to simplified pricing and packaging, along with the inclusion of programmer streaming applications in Spectrum’s expanded basic video packages. Spectrum TV Select video customers now receive up to approximately $120 per month, soon to be approximately $126 per month, in programmer streaming application retail value at no extra cost. Charter cited the ad-supported versions of Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, AMC+, ViX, Tennis Channel and Fox One, with Discovery+ launching soon.

The video economics remain under pressure. Charter reported video revenue of $3.252 billion, down 9.2% year over year. The company said the decline was driven by a higher mix of lower-priced video packages, costs allocated to programmer streaming applications and netted within video revenue, less favorable bundled revenue allocation, and a decline in video customers, partly offset by promotional rate step-ups and video rate adjustments.

Charter is also using mobile more directly as part of its broadband defense strategy. In Q1, Spectrum launched a $1,000 savings guarantee for customers signing up for Spectrum Internet and switching two or more mobile lines from Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. Charter said Spectrum Mobile is central to its converged network strategy, with plans that include 5G access, no contracts, and taxes and fees included in the price.

The results come as cable operators face sustained broadband competition from fiber, fixed wireless access, mobile substitution, and a softer housing environment. Reuters reported that Charter’s broadband losses were worse than analyst estimates, while Fierce Network reported that Charter management pointed to new competition, housing pressure, and mobile substitution as factors affecting cable Internet growth.

INSIDER TAKE

Charter’s quarter shows how the traditional cable bundle is being rebuilt around retention.

Broadband is still the anchor product, but it is no longer a guaranteed growth engine. Charter’s 120,000 Internet customer loss shows that even high-utility subscriptions face pressure when competitors can offer cheaper, faster, or more flexible alternatives.

That is why mobile and streaming app access matter. Mobile is not just an adjacent growth line for Charter. It is part of the retention strategy, giving customers more economic reasons to keep their Internet relationship in place. Streaming app inclusion is playing a similar role in video, adding perceived value to a category that continues to lose revenue and subscribers.

But this is not a simple “bundles solve churn” story. Charter’s video customer losses narrowed, but video revenue still fell. The company also disclosed higher costs allocated to programmer streaming applications and netted within video revenue, showing that included value can improve the customer proposition while changing the economics underneath it.

For subscription executives, the lesson is that bundling can be powerful, but it has to be managed carefully. Bundles can reduce churn, increase perceived value, and deepen customer attachment. They can also complicate revenue allocation, margin visibility, partner economics, and customer understanding.

The question is whether Charter’s strategy creates durable retention, or simply makes cancellation slower and the subscription more expensive to manage. That is the issue operators should watch as more companies use bundles, partner access, and included value to defend recurring revenue.