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STAMFORD — Charter Communications, the provider of Spectrum internet, cable and phone services, saw its customer numbers decline in several areas early this year, while one platform continued to grow.

The Stamford-based company ended the first quarter of this year with about 31.4 million customer relationships — marking a 2% year-over-year decrease, according to the earnings report released Friday. As part of that trend, Charter's customer totals dropped in its internet, cable and home-phone businesses. But the Spectrum Mobile service that is available to all internet customers keeps expanding. It added 514,000 lines in the first quarter and more than 2.1 million lines in the past year, for a total of about 10.4 million.

“We performed well in the first quarter,” Charter CEO and President Chris Winfrey said in an earnings call on Friday morning. “We continued to be the fastest-growing mobile provider in the U.S., with the fastest connectivity, at the best price.”

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Charter’s revenues first-quarter totaled about $13.7 billion, up 0.4% year over year. The company’s first-quarter profit of about $1.2 billion compared with a bottom line of around $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

Winfrey and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer expressed optimism about the company’s ability to withstand the wave of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Charter operates entirely in the U.S., across a 41-state footprint, with about 115,000 customers in Connecticut.

“We don’t currently expect tariffs to have a significant impact on our capital expenditures for this year and over the next several years,” Fischer said. “We have attractive agreements with our equipment vendors, and we continue to work with them to minimize the impact of tariffs, while at the same time supporting the health of the cable-equipment ecosystem.”

Investors responded favorably to the first-quarter results. Charter’s shares were trading at about $370 at noon Friday, up 10% from their closing total on Thursday and up about 6% year to date.

Based on its 2023 revenues, Charter ranked No. 76 on last year’s Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations.

The company has about 1,800 employees based at its headquarters at 400 Washington Blvd., in downtown Stamford.

Growing focus on streaming entertainment

While the abundance of product options and service providers in the telecommunications industry has made customer growth challenging for Charter in recent years, executives express confidence about the company’s long-term prospects.

Among Charter’s most-important initiatives of the past couple of years is Xumo Stream Box, which combines live TV and streaming apps. It was launched in October 2023 through a joint venture with another telecommunications giant, Comcast.

As a device that plugs into most smart TVs, Xumo comes preloaded with more than 250 apps. The number of apps that customers can use with Xumo depends on their subscriptions. A Spectrum TV Select Plus subscriber, for instance, would get access to the Spectrum TV app, as well as the ad-supported AMC+, Max, Disney+, ESPN+, Paramount+, Peacock Premium, Vix and Tennis Channel+ apps. But a Select Plus customer would need to get separate subscriptions for other apps such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Netflix that are not part of that plan, which has a standard monthly rate of $125.

“As the market was shifting toward streaming, one of the things we had to do was make a very conscious strategic decision as to how are we going to transform how we sell our video products,” Danny Bowman, Charter’s executive vice president of product, said in an interview earlier this month at Charter’s headquarters in Stamford. “This is why we made a very specific investment with Comcast to create Xumo.”

By March 2024, the company had deployed more than 1 million Xumo devices. More recent data on Xumo usage was not immediately available.

“We have a lot of existing customers who are adding a Xumo box and keeping their set-top box,” Bowman said. “We have some customers who are handing in their set-top box and moving 100% to a Xumo experience … A lot of our new customers are taking that as their primary video experience.”

Among other promising signs for the cable business, Spectrum edged out Comcast’s Xfinity for the top score for overall customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2024 study of U.S. television service providers.

“They’re doing a great job of producing products to make their services even more attractive and higher quality,” Carl Lepper, senior director of consumer-analytics firm J.D. Power’s TMT Intelligence group, which focuses on technology, media and telecommunications, said this week. “And their call centers are doing a great job.”

But the introduction of Xumo and the high marks for customer service have not yet reversed the ongoing decline in Charter’s cable customer base. Its approximately 12.7 million cable customers in the first quarter of this year was down 7% from a year ago, 15% from the first quarter of 2023 and 19% from the first quarter of 2022.

“Any new product that you bring to market and start to package, it takes a while to wear in,” Bowman said. “It’s just not going to happen overnight.”

April 25, 2025

STAMFORD, CT — Items from Susie Hilfiger, a former Greenwich resident, will be part of over 500 lots in ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction which is set for April 27 in Stamford.

Beginning at 1 p.m. at the ACES Gallery in Stamford at 85 Old Long Ridge Road, the auction will feature fine art, jewelry, collectibles, a single-owner collection of clocks, and over 50 items from the Susie Hilfiger collection, plus material from over 50 local estates and items descended through the family of a New York City auctioneer circa 1930s.

"A Regency cast iron outdoor garden bench with a curved seat and x-form supports, plus urn splats, 28 inches tall by 54 inches long, is expected to knock down for $1,000-$2,000," a news release on the auction noted. "The bench is one of four early garden lots from the collection of Susie Hilfiger of Greenwich, Conn."

Previews for the auction will be held by appointment only on April 27 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and April 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Stamford gallery and offices at 85 Old Long Ridge Road.

Susie Hilfiger, the former wife of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, sold her Greenwich mansion for $15 million in 2023.

Find out what's happening in Stamfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Susie Hilfiger purchased the property for $8.5 million in 1995 with her then-husband Tommy Hilfiger. Susie Hilfiger got the house after the couple's divorce in 2000.

For more information on the upcoming auction, click here.

STAMFORD — The biggest company in professional wrestling in the U.S. is joining forces with a couple of major industry players in Mexico.

Stamford-based WWE has announced that it is acquiring Mexican lucha libre promotion AAA, in partnership with another Mexican firm, sports-and-entertainment holding company Fillip.

WWE officials described the acquisition as one that would grow lucha libre’s already large audience. Lucha libre — which refers to freestyle wrestling or literally “free fight” — is one of Mexico’s most popular forms of entertainment, while it is also followed by many wrestling fans in the U.S.

“We have nothing but respect for lucha libre. Some of the greatest athletes in the world have come out of AAA, have come to WWE, have been seen all around the world,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in an announcement of the acquisition, on the WrestleMania 41 Saturday Countdown show in Las Vegas, joined by a number of AAA and Fillip officials and celebrated luchadores. “The impact of lucha libre, the cultural impact it has had, it resonates through generations. It cannot be overstated. It is incredible. We look to further that tradition.”

Highlighting the deal’s impact, WWE has also announced that a “Worlds Collide” show featuring WWE Superstars and AAA stars will be held June 7 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.

WWE officials did not immediately announce any upcoming shows in Mexico, but the company has been putting on events in the country for more than 20 years. Last year, it held shows in Mexico City and Monterrey.

“This deal would seemingly supercharge existing expansion priorities and provide a canvas for evolving their wrestling brand, as well as greatly enhancing WWE parent company TKO’s media holdings,” Josh Shuart, director of sports management at Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, said on Monday. “It is important to separate out live events — one of WWE’s core revenue drivers — from merchandise and other goods that may be more impacted by tariffs. I wouldn’t disregard concerns altogether, but feel that potential negative financial impacts will be minimal.”

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is scheduled to close in the third quarter of this year.

A message left for WWE officials on Monday inquiring how many AAA employees would join WWE was not immediately returned.

AAA was founded in 1992 by Antonio Peña, and the Peña family “will continue to be involved in the next chapter of the AAA business alongside WWE and Fillip,” company officials said in a news release. “Some of the greatest talent in lucha libre history,” including Rey Mysterio, Penta and the late Eddie Guerrero have called AAA home during their careers, the release also noted.

“It’s something really important for us, and basically it’s the beginning of a new chapter in the story of lucha libre,” AAA General Manager Dorian Roldán Peña said during the WrestleMania Saturday Countdown show. “To be finally here, we told our talent, we told the luchadores, we feel really, really proud.”

Rey Mysterio and Penta were two of the lucha libre legends who were on set during the Saturday Countdown show. Colorful masks are a hallmark of lucha libre, and Mysterio and Penta wore their latest, extravagant face coverings.

Mysterio’s son, Dominik Mysterio, is also a WWE Superstar. On Sunday, during WrestleMania 41, the younger Mysterio won the intercontinental championship.

The annual WrestleMania is the biggest event on the WWE calendar. After its two-night run this past weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, it will head to Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for its 2026 edition.