DUO Broadband, one of Adair County’s primary internet and cable provider, announced last year that they will end their DUOTV streaming television and regular TV services by the end of next year. The decision came after many audience members are following the trend of cutting cable in the place of other streaming platforms.
The end of the DUOTV streaming services and premium cable channels are scheduled for January 2, 2024. The standard cable services will cease at the end of 2024. The decision came after an official statement from DUO that explained that prices from TV network providers have been continually increasing.
This led to the difficult choice of either increasing customers’ rates for DUOTV or ending the service altogether and encouraging the use of individual streaming services.
“Our costs would continue to go up as customers would choose these streaming services,” said Eric West, director of business operators at DUO Broadband.
It is no surprise that DUOTV has announced the end of its services. Multiple telecommunication companies have followed the trend of resorting to third-party services to keep costs down rather than raise rates every year. Monthly cost for cable can currently cost over $100 per month when adding any number of extra viewing and premium packages.
DUO Broadband tried to compete in the streaming era with their own streaming service but with low subscriber numbers, the service will be shut down early.
“We launched a streaming service but it was limited to our broadband platform,” said West. The low number of subscribers didn’t help as the big streaming services are able to have an easier time with operating cost since audiences can range in the millions.
Today’s technology is a major shift from the days when providing cable to city residents was an important role of the local city government. DUO Broadband contracted with the city two decades ago and has been exclusively providing internet and cable to businesses and homes in the area.
City Council member Robert Flowers remembers when DUO was no more than a telephone service but soon began to offer cable.
“It was a really big deal,” when Columbia decided to pair with the company to provide television, he recalled.
Flowers recognized the impact this will have on viewers as he himself will be leaving the cable entertainment for internet streaming soon.
“I’m going miss it, since they have been so good with us,” said Flowers.
DUO broadband is willing to help its internet customers get connected to third-party streaming services. DUO Broadband also says they have partnered with MyBundle, which can help customers select one or multiple TV streaming services and organize the subscriptions for them.
“Our focus is going to be broadband and build out as much fiber facilities so folks can get high speed internet,” said West. This will mean businesses and residents who dive into the streaming world will be given optimized internet speeds that can handle the extra digital traffic.
Much of Adair County has had replacement or planned replacement of its copper lines with the much better and faster fiber optics cables.
The official date for standard cable services ending is December 31, 2024, leaving just over a year for DUO clients to find an alternative. Another notice will be sent out this week to DUOTV watchers, which will include price increases for next year and a reminder to start looking at new services before the end of the year.
