Press ReleaseMarch 18, 2021
Spectrum News App Surpasses 1 Million Downloads Less Than Eight Months After Launch
Spectrum News App Fills Critical News Void Serving as a Vital Resource for Reliable and Contextual Community Journalism
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STAMFORD, Conn. – The Spectrum News App, Spectrum Networks’ mobile-first local news app, has reached 1 million downloads on the Apple App and Google Play Stores, less than eight months after launching in July 2020. Reaching this benchmark underscores the value of local news and demonstrates that the Spectrum News App has become a vital resource for customers seeking reliable, more contextual community-based journalism. Spectrum residential customers, including internet-only customers, can download the app to access a broad portfolio of content, including unique local news, exclusive reporting, podcasts, weather, and the live streams of Spectrum’s linear news channels.
“We developed the Spectrum News App specifically to meet our customers’ needs for high-quality, objective news that reflects our communities, to be consumed wherever and whenever they want,” said Alison Hellman, Senior Vice President of Content, Strategy and Marketing for Spectrum Networks. “To surpass 1 million downloads so quickly is a strong indicator that our coverage is essential to our customers, who rely on us to foster a deeper dialogue and connection with their communities.”
With a current rating of 4.7/5 in the Apple App Store, the Spectrum News App ranks higher than news apps from The New York Times, MSNBC, Fox News and Google News. In an exceedingly short amount of time, the Spectrum News App has quickly joined Spectrum’s linear TV networks as an invaluable resource for highly-localized news, with spikes in engagement surrounding locally-relevant political events, severe weather and breaking news.
The app has provided credible and community-specific information throughout the pandemic. In recent weeks, more than 100,000 individuals visited the app on a weekly basis for vaccination resources and stories about the pandemic’s impact on families, communities and local businesses. Coronavirus-related articles rank as the most viewed in the app in seven states where Spectrum has local news networks: Florida, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Texas. Additionally, Spectrum News’ extensive severe weather coverage is valuable for customers, with thousands of highly-engaged users returning to the app’s weather section daily. As severe weather affected most of the country in February (Feb. 10–Feb. 16), article views in the weather section increased 85 percent and time spent in the app increased 161 percent.
More information on the Spectrum News App is available here.
About Spectrum Networks
Spectrum Networks is a series of 24/7 news and sports networks owned and operated by Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers in 41 states. Spectrum Networks carry distinct, comprehensive, and exclusive local programming on over 30 networks across Charter’s footprint. More information on Spectrum Networks is available at spectrumlocalnews.com.
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