WideOpenWest, Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. And welcome to the Wide Open Spaces first quarter 2021 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 on your telephone. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. If you require any further assistance, please press star 0. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, and that is going to be Andrew Posen, Vice President, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Wide Open West's first quarter 2021 earnings call. With me today is Teresa Elder, WOW's Chief Executive Officer, and John Rego, WOW's Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that during our call, we will make some forward-looking statements about our expected operating results, our business strategy, and other matters relating to our business. These forward-looking statements are made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws that are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual operating results, financial position, or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. We are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to update such forward-looking statements. For additional information concerning factors that could affect our financial results or cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, please refer to our filings with the SEC, including the risk factors section of our Form 10-K filed with the SEC. In addition, please note that on today's call and in our earnings release, we refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. While the company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information for investors, the presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP metrics for our reported results can be found in the earnings press release issued today, a copy of which can be found on our website. Now I'll turn the call over to WOW's Chief Executive Officer, Teresa Elder.

Thanks, Andrew. Welcome to WOW's first quarter earnings call. In addition to our press release and quarterly trending schedule that are available on our investor relations page, we've also included a presentation that we are using to compliment our prepared remarks. This was another great quarter for WOW as the momentum we built throughout last year continued into the first quarter. Our broadband first strategy drove our results again this quarter, pushing our high-speed data revenue to its sixth consecutive record quarter as we added 10,000 HSD subscribers. In the first quarter, our total revenue increased 1% from the same period last year to $286 million. driven by growth in our high-speed data business, which grew 12% year over year to $153 million, more than offsetting a decline in video and telephony revenue during the quarter. Our first quarter adjusted EBITDA was $112 million, up more than 13% from the same period last year. 2020 was a monumental year for our industry in so many ways. Broadband utilization increased across practically every facet of our lives. From streaming video content to supporting education via remote learning, and the significant number of people who now work remotely, high-speed data services delivered over a high-quality network continue to be an extremely important aspect of our daily lives. In 2021, the reliance on high-speed data has not abated, which further underpins our broadband-first strategy and our strong results this quarter. While we are very focused on growing our high-speed data business, we continue to work with our customers to ensure that they have excellent video options to choose from, whether it's using WOW TV+, our IP-based video offering, or signing up with streaming alternatives. We remain aggressively focused on driving our total subscriber numbers higher. In fact, for the seventh consecutive quarter, we increased our total number of subscribers, as we have every quarter since launching our broadband first strategy in early 2020. During the first quarter, we added 10,000 high-speed data RGUs, bringing our total to nearly 824,000. Consistent with the past two quarters, 86% or the vast majority of our new customers are buying our high speed data only service. A significant increase from the same period last year when 66% of new subscribers purchased our high speed data service. In the first quarter of 2021, 88% of new customers purchased speeds of 200 meg or higher. which is up slightly from last quarter and substantially higher than Q1 last year when 51% of our new customers purchased 200 meg speeds or higher. HSD ARPU increased slightly from last quarter and remains significantly higher than the same period last year, largely reflecting customers purchasing higher speeds. In the first quarter of this year, HSD ARPU was 62.10, up from 57.70 in the same period last year. Our edge-out strategy continues to deliver growth in terms of both homes passed and RGU's, and is showing positive results with increasing penetration rates. Both the 2019 and 2020 edge-out vintages increased against this quarter. with the 2019 vintages increasing to 17.3% penetration, up from 16.3% last quarter. And the 2020 vintages increased to 17.7% penetration, up from 11.5% last quarter. Although the lingering effects of the pandemic are still limiting the full potential, we expect to see some incremental acceleration of edge-outs in the back half of this year. In the early stages of last year, we announced our broadband-first strategy and outlined our focus on high-speed data products and services, which enabled us to respond to customers' needs while still playing to our strengths. which clearly includes the quality of our network. This is one of the key reasons we feel confident about our ability to continue to execute this strategy. During the past few years, we've made strategic investments in all 19 of our markets to bolster our advanced fiber-rich network, including standardizing and simplifying it through the deployment of DOCSIS 3.1. which is now fully implemented across nearly all of WOW's footprint. These actions have enabled us to support IP-based products like WOW TV+, or alternative video options, including streaming services that ensure the network continues to deliver flexibility and the higher speeds consumers increasingly demand. The quality of our infrastructure has also been a key reason that we've been able to quickly respond to challenges. Last year during the pandemic, we experienced a peak increase of more than double our normal volume of broadband traffic. Due in large part to the network investments that we've made, the network successfully adapted to the significant growth in usage. Earlier this year, we experienced an EF4 tornado in Newman, Georgia. And within seven days, more than 90% of our affected customers had service fully restored. This not only reflects the quality of our infrastructure, but also WOW's commitment to our customers as employees work tirelessly to get everybody back up and running. WOW has always been recognized as a leader in providing value and accessibility in the products and services we provide. We're excited about the numerous federal programs being introduced and the opportunity they give us to connect and bring the value of WOW to more homes. These programs are being established to ensure that the infrastructure exists to promote affordability and accessibility of broadband. Last year, we introduced a number of products and initiatives, including Fiber Flex for small and mid-sized business, WOW's Internet Select 50 plan for low-income households, and we participated in the Keep America Connected pledge. We continue to be part of the ACA Connects and Education Superhighways K-12 Bridge to Broadband program for states and school districts, a program designed to provide internet access for students in low-income households. We now also offer the WOW Internet for Education program, where families who qualify will be eligible to receive WOW's Internet Select 50 plan. In addition to these WOW specific products, we joined the FCC's Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to support communities and households across the country that are struggling to afford internet service during the pandemic. The EBB program will allow eligible households to remain connected to services and resources they need for critical access to their jobs, healthcare information, and remote learning. Those participating in the FCC's EBB program can receive discounts toward their monthly broadband services, as well as discounts on necessary equipment, such as laptops, desktop computers, or tablets. These initiatives and our participation in the federal programs reflect WOW's larger mission to work to eliminate the broadband inequities that may continue to impact many communities. even in a post-pandemic world. To conclude, these were solid results and I'm really pleased with the momentum that has carried over from last year into the first half of this year. Demand for broadband remains high and we believe that WOW is extremely well positioned with the right people and the right strategy to continue capturing this exciting opportunity. Now I'll turn the call over to John, who will go over our financial results in more detail.