Wide Open West

{{short description|Telecommunications provider in the United States}}

{{Infobox company

| name = WideOpenWest, Inc.

| logo = WOW! logo.svg

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{NYSE|WOW}}
Russell 2000 Component

| area_served = {{Unbulleted list|Alabama|Florida|Georgia|Illinois|Indiana|Maryland|Michigan|Ohio (1996-2021)|South Carolina|Tennessee}}

| key_people = Teresa Elder (president & CEO)
John Rego (CFO)
Bill Case (CIO)
Henry Hryckiewicz (CTO)

| industry = Telecommunications

| products = Broadband
Cable television
IPTV
Digital cable
Digital telephone
HDTV
Internet
Internet security
VoIP phone

| brands = WOW!

| revenue = {{Increase}}{{US$|1,148.4 million}}{{small|(2020){{cite web|url=https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001701051/64b19b7f-e211-4a4b-abed-a8c6675899ba.pdf |title=WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 Annual Report (Form 10-K) |date=December 2020 |publisher=Wide Open West |website=ir.wowway.com}}}}

| operating_income = {{Decrease}}{{US$|22.2 million}}{{small|(2020){{cite web|url=https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001701051/9f07d241-2248-4924-bb1d-ec9e44ed22ef.pdf |title=WideOpenWest, Inc. 2019 Annual Report (Form 10-K) |date=March 2020 |publisher=Wide Open West |website=ir.wowway.com}}}}

| net_income = {{Decrease}}{{US$|14.4 million}}{{small|(2020)}}

| assets = {{Increase}}{{US$| 2,487.0 million}}{{small|(2020){{cite web|url=https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001701051/64b19b7f-e211-4a4b-abed-a8c6675899ba.pdf |title=WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 Annual Report (Form 10-K) |date=December 2020 |publisher=Wide Open West |website=ir.wowway.com}}}}

| predecessor = Americast, Knology

| foundation = {{Start date and age|1996|11}}
Denver, Colorado, U.S.

| hq_location_city = Denver, Colorado

| hq_location_country = U.S.

| subsid = Broadstripe

| homepage = {{URL|www.wowway.com}}

}}

WideOpenWest, Inc. (doing business as WOW!{{Cite web|url=http://www.wowway.com/|title=WOW! Internet Cable and Phone - Bundle offers and support|website=WowWay.com|publisher=Wide Open West|access-date=2016-08-20}}) is the eighth largest cable operator in the United States with their network passing 1.9 million homes and businesses.{{Cite web|url=http://ir.wowway.com/investor-relations/overview/default.aspx|title=WideOpenWest, Inc. - investor relations|website=ir.wowway.com|language=en-US|access-date=2023-01-27}} The company offers landline telephone, cable television, and broadband Internet services.{{cite web|title=About WOW!|url=http://www.wowway.com/experience/about|website=WowWay.com|publisher=Wide Open West|access-date=2016-08-31}} As of November 3, 2022, WOW! has about 538,100 subscribers.{{Cite web|url= https://ir.wowway.com/investor-relations/news/press-release-details/2022/WOW-REPORTS-THIRD-QUARTER-2022-RESULTS/ |title= WOW! REPORTS THIRD QUARTER 2022 RESULTS |date=November 3, 2022|website=WideOpenWest, Inc.|access-date=2023-01-27}}

After a 2017 initial public offering, WideOpenWest is publicly traded with Avista Capital Partners and Crestview Partners retaining significant stakes.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wowway.com/docs/wow/documents-news/2015-crestview-acquires-stake-in-wow.pdf?sfvrsn=4 |website=wowway.com |publisher=WideOpenWest |title=News}} As of August 6, 2019 Avista Capital Partners sold their shares in the company, leaving Crestview Partners WOW's largest shareholder holding a 37% stake in the company.{{cite web |url=https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001701051/9f07d241-2248-4924-bb1d-ec9e44ed22ef.pdf |website=wowway.com |publisher=WideOpenWest |title=10-K}}

History

WOW! was founded in November 1996 in Denver, Colorado. After building a network in April 2001, WOW! initially served about 200 people in the Denver area. In November 2001, WOW! purchased Americast, an overbuild system in the Midwest built and operated by Ameritech New Media for an undisclosed amount per subscriber, estimated to have been at a cost of $600 per sub.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} This purchase opened WOW! to over 310,000 new customers in metropolitan areas surrounding the cities of Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Denver, and Evansville.{{cite web |url=http://www.multichannel.com/article/126578-SBC_Sells_For_a_Song.php |publisher=Multichannel News |title=SBC Sells For a Song}} WOW! no longer serves the Columbus, Cleveland, or Denver markets.

Avista Capital Partners completed its acquisition of cable operator WideOpenWest (“WOW!”) from Oak Hill Capital Partners and ABRY Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.{{cite web|url=http://www.wallercapital.com/waller-capital-advises-wideopenwest-on-its-800-million-sale-to-avista-capital-partners/|title=Waller Advises Sale}}

On August 23, 2011, Wave Broadband and WOW! announced that they entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets of Broadstripe LLC, a provider of residential and commercial bundled communications services. On January 14, WOW! completed the acquisition of Broadstripe's cable systems in Michigan.

In April 2012, WOW! purchased Knology, a broadband company, operating in 13 markets. With the merger the combined customer total will be over 800,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120418005891/en/WOW!-Acquire-Knology-19.75-Share-Cash|title=WOW! to Acquire Knology for $19.75 Per Share in Cash|website=BusinessWire.com|date=2012-04-18}} Knology had previously merged with Valley Telephone Company in 1999, Prairiewave Communications in 2007,[http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/10/17/news/local/doc4715981bc9b1e587939990.txt PrairieWave Change Causes E-mail Glitches] Graceba Total Communications in 2008,{{cite news |date=January 4, 2008 |title=Knology Announces Closing of $75 Million Graceba Acquisition |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS189019+04-Jan-2008+BW20080104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120911095445/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS189019+04-Jan-2008+BW20080104 |archive-date=September 11, 2012}} and Sunflower Broadband in 2011.{{cite news |last=Lawhorn |first=Chad |date=January 18, 2011 |title=Sunflower Broadband's new owners change name to Knology |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |url=http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/jan/18/sunflower-broadbands-new-owners-change-name-knolog/ |access-date=24 July 2013}}

In June 2014, WOW! sold its cable, Internet and phone systems in the South Dakota markets to Clarity Telecom. Part of the multimillion-dollar deal, worth $262 million, included the markets in Iowa and Minnesota previously served by Knology and PrairieWave Communications.{{Cite web|title = WOW! sells off SD systems to Clarity for $262M|url = http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2014/06/wow-sells-sd-systems-clarity-262m|access-date = 2015-09-24}} In March 2015 these markets would officially become known as Vast Broadband.{{Cite web|title = Vast Broadband Launches In SD| date=12 March 2015 |url = http://www.yankton.net/river_city/article_7f780410-c930-11e4-938f-a7e3e992a40d.html|access-date = 2015-09-24}}

In September 2016, WOW! purchased NuLink, a cable company serving Newnan, Georgia with approximately 34,000 customers at the time the deal closed.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wowway.com/docs/wow/documents-news/wow-closes-acquisition-of-nulink.pdf|title=WOW! Closes Acquisition of NuLink to Provide High-Speed Internet, Cable TV and Phone Service to Metro Atlanta|date=September 12, 2016|website=www.wowway.com|access-date=December 17, 2016}}

In October 2016, WOW! came to an agreement with Midco to sell its systems in Lawrence, Kansas. These systems currently pass approximately 67,000 homes and businesses in the area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wowway.com/docs/wow/documents-news/2016-midco-to-acquire-wow-system-in-lawrence-ks.pdf|title=Midco to Acquire WOW! System in Lawrence, KS|date=October 21, 2016|website=www.wowway.com|access-date=December 17, 2016}}

On June 28, 2017, WOW! officially no longer serves the Lawrence, Kansas area.{{Cite web |title=MidCo |url=http://www.wowway.com/midco |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109160321/http://www.wowway.com:80/midco |archive-date=2017-11-09 |access-date=2017-07-07 |website=www.wowway.com}}

On March 6, 2018 WOW! announced that they had deployed DOCSIS 3.1 to 95% of their footprint, one of the first cable operators to reach that near-ubiquitous threshold.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wowway.com/docs/wow/documents-news/wow-one-gig-everywhere-press-release-3-6.pdf|title=WOW! 1 Gig Internet Speeds Now Available to More Than 95 Percent of Customers|date=2018-03-06|website=WOW!|access-date=2018-06-19}}

On June 30, 2021 WOW! stated that it is selling its Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, service areas to Atlantic Broadband (since renamed Breezeline) for $1.13 billion;{{Cite web|title=WideOpenWest sells 5 service areas for $1.8B|url=https://www.teletrader.com/wideopenwest-sells-5-service-areas-for-1-8b/news/details/55871102|access-date=2021-06-30|website=www.teletrader.com|language=en-inter}} it closed the deal on September 1, 2021.{{Cite web|last=Reading 9/1/2021|first=News Wire Feed Light|title=Atlantic Broadband wraps buy of two WOW systems|url=https://www.lightreading.com/cable-tech/atlantic-broadband-wraps-buy-of-two-wow-systems/d/d-id/771835|access-date=2021-09-07|website=Light Reading|language=en}} Also on June 30, WOW! announced the sale of its systems in Chicago; Evansville, Indiana; and Anne Arundel, Maryland to Astound Broadband for $661 million.

On May 15, 2023, WOW! has announced that it would discontinue its in-house TV services, including WOW! TV+ and migrating its video customers to YouTube TV across its footprint. WOW! will still maintain its current cable TV system while the said migration takes place. This move would free up bandwidth for the company's ISP overall.[https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/15/23724443/wide-open-west-cable-youtube-tv A small cable company is going all in on YouTube TV for video] - The Verge (published May 15, 2023)

Internet availability by state

State	Population Covered by WOW!{{cite web\|url=http://broadbandnow.com/WOW!\|title=WOW! Availability by State\|website=broadbandnow.com\|access-date=2017-01-16}}
class= "wikitable sortable"
Michigan	1,872,510
kmk, \| Alabama	624,373
Illinois	1,604,922
South Carolina	260,525
Florida	804,094
Indiana	317,809
Georgia	474,460
Tennessee	139,600

Network availability by city

City	Homes passed{{Cite web\|date=2020-12-31\|title=WideOpenWest, Inc. 2020 10-K\|url=https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001701051/64b19b7f-e211-4a4b-abed-a8c6675899ba.pdf\|access-date=2021-06-01\|website=ir.wowway.com}}	Coaxial Miles	Fiber Miles	Total Network Miles
class= "wikitable sortable"
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
Auburn, AL	15,251	188	202	390