TWC

Time Warner Cable Inc.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “TWC” or the “Company”) is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., with technologically advanced, well-clustered systems located mainly in five geographic areas – New York State (including New York City), the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California (including Los Angeles) and Texas. As of December 31, 2009, TWC served approximately 14.6 million residential and commercial customers who subscribed to one or more of its three primary subscription services – video, high-speed data and voice – totaling approximately 26.4 million primary service units (“PSUs”). TWC markets its services separately and in “bundled” packages of multiple services and features. As of December 31, 2009, 57.3% of TWC’s residential and commercial customers subscribed to two or more of its primary services, including 23.7% of such customers who subscribed to all three primary services. In addition, TWC sells advertising to a variety of national, regional and local advertising customers.

In February 2007, TWC became a public company subject to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Securities Exchange Act”). On March 1, 2007, TWC’s Class A common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

On March 12, 2009, TWC completed its separation from Time Warner Inc. (“Time Warner”), which, prior to the Separation Transactions (as defined in “—Recent Developments”), owned approximately 84% of the common stock of TWC (representing a 90.6% voting interest) and a 12.43% non-voting common stock interest in TW NY Cable Holding Inc. (“TW NY”), a subsidiary of TWC. As a result of the separation, Time Warner no longer has an ownership interest in TWC or TW NY.

Recent Developments

Separation from Time Warner, Recapitalization and TWC Reverse Stock Split

On March 12, 2009, TWC’s separation from Time Warner was completed pursuant to a Separation Agreement between TWC and Time Warner and certain of their subsidiaries dated as of May 20, 2008 (the “Separation Agreement”). In accordance with the Separation Agreement, on February 25, 2009, a subsidiary of Time Warner transferred its 12.43% non-voting common stock interest in TW NY to TWC in exchange for 80 million newly issued shares (approximately 27 million shares after giving effect to the 1-for-3 reverse stock split discussed below) of TWC’s Class A common stock (the “TW NY Exchange”). On March 12, 2009, TWC paid a special cash dividend of $10.27 per share ($30.81 per share after giving effect to the 1-for-3 reverse stock split, aggregating $10.856 billion) to holders of record on March 11, 2009 of TWC’s outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock (the “Special Dividend”). Following the payment of the Special Dividend, each outstanding share of TWC Class A common stock and TWC Class B common stock was automatically converted (the “Recapitalization”) into one share of TWC common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “TWC Common Stock”). TWC’s separation from Time Warner (the “Separation”) was effected as a pro rata dividend of all shares of TWC Common Stock held by Time Warner to holders of record of Time Warner’s common stock (the “Spin-Off Dividend” or the “Distribution”). The TW NY Exchange, the Special Dividend, the Recapitalization, the Separation and the Distribution collectively are referred to as the “Separation Transactions.”

In connection with the Separation Transactions, on March 12, 2009, the Company implemented a reverse stock split of the TWC Common Stock (the “TWC Reverse Stock Split”) at a 1-for-3 ratio, effective immediately after the Recapitalization. The shares of TWC Common Stock distributed in the Spin-Off Dividend reflected both the Recapitalization and the TWC Reverse Stock Split.

2009 Bond Offerings and Termination of Lending Commitments

In 2009, TWC issued, in total, $6.5 billion in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes and debentures under a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 in three underwritten public offerings. The Company used the net proceeds from these debt issuances (1) to repay all of the borrowings outstanding under a 364-day senior unsecured term loan facility (including accrued interest and commitment fees) that TWC entered into in connection with the Separation Transactions, (2) to repay all of the borrowings outstanding under its $4.0 billion five-year term loan facility, (3) to repay borrowings outstanding under the Company’s senior unsecured five-year revolving credit facility and a portion of the borrowings outstanding under the Company’s commercial paper program, and (4) for general corporate purposes.

Services

TWC offers video, high-speed data and voice services over its broadband cable systems to residential and commercial customers.

Residential Services

Video Services

TWC offers a broad range of residential video services, including advanced services such as On-Demand, high-definition (“HD”) and digital video recorder (“DVR”) services. As of December 31, 2009, TWC had approximately 12.7 million residential video subscribers.

Programming tiers. TWC currently offers three main levels or “tiers” of video programming—Basic Service Tier (“BST”), Expanded Basic Service Tier (or Cable Programming Service Tier) (“CPST”) and Digital Basic Service Tier (“DBT”). BST generally includes broadcast television signals, satellite-delivered broadcast networks and superstations, local origination channels, a few specialty networks, such as C-SPAN and QVC, and public access, educational and government channels. CPST enables BST subscribers to add to their service national, regional and local cable news, entertainment and other networks, such as CNN, USA and ESPN. In certain areas, BST and CPST also include proprietary local programming devoted to the communities TWC serves, including 24-hour local news channels in a number of cities. DBT enables subscribers who receive digital video signals (“digital video subscribers”) to receive additional cable networks. Generally, subscribers to any tier of video programming can purchase genre-based programming tiers, such as movies, sports and Spanish language tiers, and premium services, such as HBO and Showtime.

TWC’s video subscribers pay a fixed monthly fee based on the video programming tier they receive. Subscribers to specialized tiers and premium services are charged an additional monthly fee, with discounts generally available for the purchase of packages of more than one such service. HD simulcasts (i.e., HD channels that are the same as their standard-definition counterparts but for picture quality) are generally provided at no additional charge, and additional charges generally apply only for HD channels that do not have standard-definition counterparts. The rates TWC can charge for its BST service and certain video equipment, including set-top boxes, in areas not subject to “effective competition” are subject to regulation under federal law. See “—Regulatory Matters” below.

On-Demand services. On-Demand services are generally available to digital video subscribers. Available On-Demand services include a wide selection of featured movies and special events, for which separate per-use fees are generally charged, and free access to selected movies, programming from broadcast stations and cable networks, music videos, local programming and other content. In addition, premium service (e.g., HBO) subscribers generally have access to the premium service’s On-Demand content without additional fees.

DVR service. Set-top boxes equipped with DVRs enable customers, among other things, to pause and/or rewind “live” television programs and record programs on the hard drive built into the set-top box. Subscribers pay an additional monthly fee for TWC’s DVR service. As of December 31, 2009, 50%, or approximately 4.4 million, of TWC’s digital video subscribers also subscribed to its DVR service. In 2010, TWC expects to introduce remote DVR management, which will allow customers to program their DVRs via a website or mobile handset, and a multi-room DVR service, which will allow a program recorded on a DVR to be watched on any television with a TWC-provided set-top box in a customer’s home.

Network DVR services. TWC is expanding the use of Video On-Demand (“VOD”) technology to introduce additional enhancements to the video experience. For instance, as of December 31, 2009, Start Overtm, TWC’s Emmy-award winning technology, was available to 79%, or approximately 7.0 million, of TWC’s digital video subscribers. Start Over allows digital video subscribers using a TWC-provided set-top box to restart select “in progress” programs directly from the relevant channel, without the ability to fast-forward through commercials. TWC has begun rolling out other Network DVR services such as Look Backtm, which extends the window for viewing a program to 72 hours after it has aired, and Quick Clipstm, which allows customers to view short-form content tied to the broadcast station or cable network then being watched.

High-speed Data Services

TWC offered residential high-speed data services to nearly all of its homes passed as of December 31, 2009. TWC’s high-speed data services provide customers with a fast, always-on connection to the Internet. High-speed data subscribers connect to TWC’s cable systems using a cable modem, which TWC provides at no charge or which subscribers can purchase on their own. Subscribers pay a fixed monthly fee based on the level of service received. As of December 31, 2009, TWC served approximately 9.0 million residential high-speed data subscribers.

Road Runner High-Speed Onlinetm. TWC offers four tiers of Road Runner High-Speed Online service in all of its systems: Turbotm, Standard, Basic and Lite. Each tier offers a different speed at a different monthly fee. Turbo generally offers subscribers speeds of up to 20 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream. In addition, in the majority of its systems, TWC provides Turbo and Standard subscribers with Powerboosttm at no additional charge, which allows users to initiate brief download speed bursts when TWC’s network capacity permits. During 2009, TWC deployed a new “Wideband” service in New York City, and expects to continue to selectively deploy Wideband in its service areas during 2010. Wideband generally offers subscribers speeds of up to 50 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.

TWC’s Road Runner High-Speed Online service provides communication tools and personalized services, including e-mail, PC security, parental controls and online radio, without any additional charge. The Roadrunner.com portal provides access to content and media from local, national and international providers and topic-specific channels, including entertainment, dating, games, news, sports, travel, music, movie listings, shopping, ticketing and coupon sites.

In addition to Road Runner High-Speed Online, most of TWC’s cable systems provide their high-speed data subscribers with access to the services of certain other on-line providers, including Earthlink.

Road Runner Mobiletm. During the fourth quarter of 2009, TWC launched Road Runner Mobile, a wireless mobile broadband service, in several cities. Road Runner Mobile provides customers with wireless broadband Internet access on their computers via a TWC-provided data card. TWC offers service delivered over Clearwire Corporation’s (“Clearwire”) fourth-generation (“4G”) WiMax network and Sprint Corporation’s (“Sprint”) third-generation (“3G”) CDMA network. In 2010, TWC expects to continue to roll out Road Runner Mobile in additional cities. TWC is also an equity investor in Clearwire, see “—Operating Partnerships, Joint Ventures and Significant Investments” below.

Voice Services

TWC offered its Digital Phone service to nearly all of its homes passed as of December 31, 2009. Most Digital Phone customers receive unlimited local, in-state and U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico calling and a number of calling features, including call waiting, caller ID and Enhanced 911 (“E911”) services, for a fixed monthly fee. TWC also offers additional calling plans with a variety of options that are designed to meet customers’ particular needs, including a local-only calling plan, an unlimited in-state calling plan and an international calling plan. As of December 31, 2009, TWC served approximately 4.2 million residential Digital Phone subscribers. In 2010, TWC expects to launch a residential web portal, which will allow Digital Phone subscribers to use the Internet to customize their Digital Phone features and listen to their voicemail.

Commercial Services

TWC offers video, high-speed data, voice, networking and transport services to commercial customers marketed under the Time Warner Cable Business Class brand.

Video Services

TWC offers small- and medium-sized businesses a full range of video programming tiers and music services. Packages are designed with a wide variety of options to meet the specific demands of a business environment, with access to entertainment and news programming covering world events, local news, weather and financial markets. Commercial subscribers are charged a fixed rate based on their tier of service. As of December 31, 2009, TWC served 160,000 commercial video subscribers.

High-speed Data, Networking and Transport Services

TWC offers commercial customers a variety of high-speed data, networking and transport services.

High-speed data service. TWC provides high-speed data service to small businesses with speeds of up to 15 Mbps downstream and up to 2 Mbps upstream and, in New York City, up to 50 Mbps downstream and up to 5 Mbps upstream with Wideband (“Shared Internet Access”). TWC also provides dedicated access to small- and medium-sized businesses through a fiber connection to the Internet (“Dedicated Internet Access”). The downstream and upstream speeds for Dedicated Internet Access service are generally up to 1 Gbps. Customers may add to their Shared Internet Access or Dedicated Internet Access certain additional services, including managed storage, web hosting and personal and managed data security. In addition, TWC expects to begin offering its wireless mobile broadband service, Time Warner Cable Business Class Mobile, to commercial customers in certain of its service areas during 2010.

Commercial subscribers pay a fixed monthly fee based on the services received. Due to their different characteristics, commercial subscribers are charged at different rates than residential subscribers. As of December 31, 2009, TWC had 295,000 commercial high-speed data subscribers.

Commercial networking and transport services. TWC offers Metro Ethernet service that provides high capacity connections to the Internet for commercial customers with geographically dispersed locations with speeds ranging from up to sub-T1 to up to 10 Gbps. TWC’s Metro Ethernet service can also extend the reach of the customer’s local area network or “LAN” within and between metropolitan areas.

In addition, TWC offers point-to-point transport services to wireless telephone providers, Internet services providers and competitive carriers on a wholesale basis.

Voice Services

TWC offers its commercial voice service, Business Class Phone, to a broad range of businesses. Business Class Phone is a multi-line voice service developed for small businesses, which provides unlimited local, intrastate and long distance calling, along with other key business features, such as call restrictions, non-verified account codes and three-way call transfer. During 2009, TWC also began offering Business Class PRI, which is designed for medium-sized businesses and supports up to twenty-three simultaneous voice calls on each two-way trunk line.

Due to their different characteristics, commercial Business Class Phone subscribers are charged at different rates than residential Digital Phone subscribers. At December 31, 2009, TWC had 67,000 commercial voice subscribers.

Advertising

TWC earns revenues by selling advertising to national, regional and local customers. As part of the agreements under which it acquires video programming, TWC typically receives an allocation of scheduled advertising time in such programming, generally two or three minutes per hour, into which its systems can insert commercials, subject, in some instances, to certain subject matter limitations. The clustering of TWC’s systems expands the share of viewers that TWC reaches within a local designated market area, which helps its local advertising sales business to compete more effectively with broadcast and other media. In addition, TWC has a strong presence in the country’s two largest advertising market areas, New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA.

In many locations, TWC has formed advertising “interconnects” or entered into representation agreements with contiguous cable system operators to deliver locally inserted commercials across wider geographic areas, replicating the reach of the local broadcast stations as much as possible. TWC also sells the video advertising inventory of certain regional sports programming networks. In addition, TWC’s local cable news channels, VOD offerings and online services, such as Roadrunner.com, provide it with opportunities to generate advertising revenue.

Advanced Advertising

TWC is exploring various means to use its VOD and other advanced capabilities to deliver to television advertisers the same kind of advanced advertising offerings and measurement data currently available to Internet advertisers, as well as to attract advertising that would otherwise be placed with other media, such as print and direct mail. For example, in several geographic areas, TWC provides overlays that enable video subscribers with a TWC-provided digital set-top box to request additional information regarding certain advertised products using the remote control, to “telescope” from a traditional advertisement to a long-form VOD segment regarding the advertised product, to vote on a relevant topic or to receive more specific additional information. In addition, in 2009, TWC launched certain digital offerings, such as Promotions on Demand, which enable video subscribers to use their remote control to request that coupons, samples and/or brochures be sent to their home. These tools are used to provide advertisers with important feedback about the impact of their advertising efforts and the value of enhancing the video experience with interactive features. TWC also currently provides anonymized VOD and enhanced TV viewing data to its programming partners.

In 2008, TWC and certain other cable operators formed Canoe Ventures LLC (“Canoe”), a joint venture focused on developing a common technology platform among cable operators for the delivery of advanced advertising products and services to be offered to programmers and advertisers. One component of Canoe’s strategy is to enable TWC and the industry as a whole to expand their measurement capabilities in order to provide anonymized viewing data to marketers and strategic partners to serve as the foundation of its advanced advertising platform.

Competition

TWC faces intense competition for customers from a variety of alternative communications, information and entertainment delivery sources. TWC competes with incumbent local telephone companies, including AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) and Verizon Communications Inc. (“Verizon”), across each of its primary services. Some of these telephone companies offer a broad range of services with features and functions comparable to those provided by TWC and in bundles similar to those offered by TWC, sometimes with the addition of wireless services. Each of TWC’s services also faces competition from other companies that provide services on a stand-alone basis. TWC’s video service faces competition from direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) services, and increasingly from companies that deliver content to consumers over the Internet. TWC’s high-speed data service faces competition from wireless data providers, and competition in voice service is increasing as more homes in the United States are replacing their wireline telephone service with wireless service. Technological advances and product innovations have increased and will likely continue to increase the number of alternatives available to TWC’s customers, further intensifying competition. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Competition.”

Principal Competitors

Incumbent local telephone companies. TWC’s video, high-speed data and Digital Phone services face competition from the video, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), wireless broadband and wireline and wireless phone offerings of AT&T and Verizon. In a significant number of TWC’s operating areas, AT&T and Verizon have upgraded their networks to carry two-way video, high-speed data and IP-based telephony services, each of which is similar to the corresponding service offered by TWC. Moreover, AT&T and Verizon aggressively market and sell bundles of video, high-speed data and voice services plus, in some cases, wireless services, and they market cross-platform features with their wireless services, such as remote DVR control from a wireless handset. TWC also faces competition in some areas from the DSL, wireless broadband and phone offerings of smaller incumbent local telephone companies, such as Frontier Communications Corporation (“Frontier Communications”) and Cincinnati Bell, Inc. (“Cincinnati Bell”).

Direct broadcast satellite. TWC’s video service faces competition from DBS services, such as DISH Network Corporation (“Dish Network”) and DirecTV Group Inc. (“DirecTV”). Dish Network and DirecTV offer satellite-delivered pre-packaged programming services that can be received by relatively small and inexpensive receiving dishes. These providers offer aggressive promotional pricing, exclusive programming (e.g., NFL Sunday Tickettm) and video services that are comparable in many respects to TWC’s digital video service, including its DVR service and some of its interactive programming features.

In some areas, incumbent local telephone companies and DBS operators have entered into co-marketing arrangements that allow the telephone companies to offer synthetic bundles (i.e., video service provided principally by the DBS operator, and DSL, wireline phone service and, in some cases, wireless service provided by the telephone company). From a consumer standpoint, the synthetic bundles appear similar to TWC’s bundles.

Cable overbuilders. TWC operates its cable systems under non-exclusive franchises granted by state or local authorities. The existence of more than one cable system, including municipality-owned systems, operating in the same territory is referred to as an “overbuild.” In some of TWC’s operating areas, other operators have overbuilt TWC’s systems and offer video, high-speed data and voice services in competition with TWC.

Other Competition and Competitive Factors

Aside from competing with the video, high-speed data and voice services offered by incumbent local telephone companies, DBS providers and cable overbuilders, each of TWC’s services also faces competition from other companies that provide services on a stand-alone basis.

Video competition. TWC’s video service faces competition from a number of different sources, including companies that deliver movies, television shows and other video programming over broadband Internet connections, such as Hulu.com, Apple Inc.’s iTunes, Netflix Inc.’s “Watch Instantly” and YouTube. Increasingly, content owners are utilizing Internet-based delivery of content directly to consumers, some without charging a fee for access to the content. Furthermore, due to consumer electronics innovations, consumers are able to watch such Internet-delivered content on television sets. TWC also competes with online order services with mail delivery and video stores.

“Online” competition. TWC’s high-speed data service faces competition from a variety of companies that offer other forms of online services, including low cost dial-up services over telephone lines and wireless broadband services, such as those offered by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Clearwire, Internet service via power lines, satellite and various other wireless services (e.g., Wi-Fi).

Digital Phone competition. TWC’s Digital Phone service competes with wireline, wireless and “over-the-top” phone providers. An increasing number of homes in the U.S. are replacing their traditional wireline telephone service with wireless phone service, a trend commonly referred to as “wireless substitution.” Wireless phone providers are encouraging this trend with aggressive marketing and the launch of wireless products targeted for home use. TWC also competes with “over-the-top” providers, such as Vonage, Skype, magicJack and Google Voice, and companies that sell phone cards at a cost per minute for both national and international service. The increase in wireless substitution and in the number of different technologies capable of carrying voice services has intensified the competitive environment in which TWC operates its Digital Phone service.

Additional competition. In addition to multi-channel video providers, cable systems compete with all other sources of news, information and entertainment, including over-the-air television broadcast reception, live events, movie theaters and the Internet. In general, TWC also faces competition from other media for advertising dollars. To the extent that TWC’s services converge with theirs, TWC competes with the manufacturers of consumer electronics products. For instance, TWC’s DVR service competes with similar devices manufactured by consumer electronics companies.

Commercial competition. TWC competes with incumbent local telephone companies, especially AT&T and Verizon, across all of its commercial services: video, high-speed data, voice, networking and transport. In addition, on a stand-alone basis, TWC’s commercial video service faces competition from DBS providers that compete with TWC primarily in the hospitality and restaurant industry, and its commercial high-speed data, voice, networking and transport services face competition from national and smaller regional competitive local exchange carriers or, “CLECs,” and from a variety of smaller incumbent local telephone companies, such as Frontier Communications and Cincinnati Bell.

Franchise process. Under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, franchising authorities are prohibited from unreasonably refusing to award additional franchises. In December 2006, the FCC adopted an order intended to make it easier for competitors to obtain franchises, by defining when the actions of county- and municipal-level franchising authorities will be deemed to be unreasonable as part of the franchising process. Furthermore, legislation supported by regional telephone companies has been enacted in a number of states to allow these companies to enter the video distribution business under state-wide franchises and without obtaining local franchise approval. Legislation of this kind has been enacted in California, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin, which include some of the Company’s largest operating areas. See “—Regulatory Matters—Video Services—Franchising” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Government Regulation.”

Employees

As of December 31, 2009, TWC had approximately 47,000 employees, including approximately 1,400 part-time employees. 4.6% of TWC’s employees are represented by labor unions. TWC considers its relations with its employees to be good.