Time Warner Cable to Expand Low-Price Package That Excludes ESPN

Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) will offer more broadly a low-priced programming package that excludes sports channels including Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ESPN.

The company will offer it in markets on the East Coast during the next few weeks, said Robert Marcus, president and chief operating officer of New York-based Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable system after Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) West Coast availability will follow, he said. The offer had been previously tested in New York.

The low-priced service may help Time Warner Cable stem losses of subscriptions from cash-strapped customers, Marcus said today at an investor conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)

By carving out sports channels, which charge the highest fees, the company has been able to offer a package that costs $30 to $40 a month, he said. Time Warner Cable pay-TV bills averaged $73.50 a month at the end of June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“We’ve been challenging ourselves to design an offering that might be more attractive and affordable to those customers who might not be able to handle the full packages,” Marcus said. “The numbers are still pretty small, but the results are sufficiently encouraging that we’re going to roll that out more broadly.”

Time Warner Cable fell 58 cents to $66.94 as of 3:37 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Disney, whose ESPN is the most-watched sports channel, fell 67 cents to $31.64.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net