D.C. Memo: RiverStreet Days Away from Cable TV Sunset

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Cable TV: A cable TV company serving small communities along the Virginia-North Carolina border is shutting down that service on Dec. 30. RiverStreet Networks also provides broadband Internet to about 30,000 subscribers, but it appears only a few cable TV subscribers will need to look for a new pay-TV source after losing traditional video service in just a matter of days. “RiverStreet has been shifting its customers to over the top streaming services for over two years or so. The handful of customers that remain will be switched by the end of the year,” a RiverStreet source said. The justification for ending pay-TV was the impact of streaming while cable programming acquisition costs remained high. “We are certain we are ending cable TV service,” Mike Meinel, RiverStreet's director of marketing told the Washington (N.C.) Daily News in a story posted Dec. 5. “It’s just very expensive to provide the service. Programming costs go up exponentially every year almost … It’s a business decision we’ve had to make, and [customers] have until the end of December to do something.” RiverStreet, based in Wilkesboro, N.C., is reportedly urging customers to use MyBundleTV to locate a suitable streaming option with local news and sports. “We're proud to partner with RiverStreet as they take the customer friendly approach to shutting down TV. Working with MyBundle makes the transition to streaming as easy as possible for their soon-to-be former TV customers ...” MyBundleTV CEO Jason Cohen told Policyband in an email. The demise of cable TV is rippling through the small operator sector with no end in sight. Consolidated Communications has been exiting cable TV during most of 2024. In September, the cable TV company in Ketchikan, Alaska, closed after moving subscribers to streaming platforms. In September 2023, DUO Broadband in Kentucky closed its streaming TV service ahead of the Dec. 31, 2024 shutdown of traditional cable TV service. DUO began the process by dropping 29 Viacom channels on Sept. 30. DUO also on Sept. 30 dropped the local NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX stations. In November, GCI in Alaska said it was shuttering cable TV service in mid 2025. The company had more than 70,000 cable TV subscribers in 2020, only to lose 50,000 over the next four years. CEO Ron Duncan said the Anchorage-based company did not have the scale to compete with other video providers. Last November, Bailey Cable TV shut down service in several Mississippi and Louisiana communities with close to zero customer notice.