Time Warner Cable
(
TWC
) - the second largest cable Multi Service Operator (MSO) has
entered into a multi-year pact with NFL network and NFL RedZone to
offer these two channels to millions of U.S.
customers.
NFL Network, famous for airing Thursday Night Football, will
offer all the 13 primetime NFL regular season games apart from
telecasting other sporting extravaganza throughout the year. NFL
Network will be available on TWC's digital basic and sports tier
packages, while the RedZone will be available to Sports Pass
customers only. On September 27, this year, the company plans to
roll out both the channels from its network.
This is a milestone deal for Time Warner, which was one of the
very few cable companies not to have NFL Network under its stable
soon after the previous attempts failed repeatedly on price
negotiations. Recently,
Cablevision System Corp.
(
CVC
) entered into a similar deal with NFL Network to carry the two
channels. However, none of the two parties divulged the financial
terms and conditions of the deal.
The agreement will cover some of the most popular TV programs to
the New York-based company's cable offering, which includes every
NFL Preseason games, the Senior Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine and
Super Bowl round the clock and will be a value addition for its
customers. We believe the explosive popularity of NFL is inducing
cable operators to add more football channels to its portfolio that
will help them to attract new customers and reduce churn rate as a
result.
The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for Time Warner Inc. is
pegged at $1.39 for the third quarter of 2012 with a growth rate
estimate of 25.28%. For 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands
at $5.62 with a growth rate of 20.11% while for 2013, the Zacks
Consensus Estimate stands at $6.86 with a growth rate of
22.03%.
Recommendation:
We retain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Time Warner
Cable Inc. Currently, it has a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a short-term
Hold rating.
CABLEVISION SYS (CVC): Free Stock Analysis
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TIME WARNER CAB (TWC): Free Stock Analysis
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