Policyband

Cedar Falls Utilities Shutting Down 'Dying' Cable TV Next October

President Obama, in a 2015 visit to CFU, vowed to let local governments provide competitive communications services, especially broadband.

Ted Hearn

Oct 6, 2025 — 9 min read

Photo of President Barack Obama on a visit to CFU in January 2015 to voice support for municipal broadband and FCC adoption of Net Neutrality policies.

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Muni Fail: Cedar Falls Utilities in Iowa is dropping cable TV service next October, saying traditional linear pay-TV can’t compete with streamers like YouTube TV in terms of price, quality of technology, and quantity of news, sports, and general entertainment video programming in the lineup. “This decision was not made lightly and we understand it will be an adjustment for some customers,” CFU General Manager Susan Abernathy said in a statement Friday. In an interview with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, she added, “Cable is a dying industry. That’s just the reality of our times.” Mediacom serves the Cedar Falls area.

In July 2013, CFU had 9,992 cable TV subscribers, the most ever. That number is down to 4,500 today. Meanwhile, Internet subscribers stood at 10,917 in July 2013, compared to 17,000 today, a 56% increase. “Traditional cable TV can no longer compete, either in price or in quality, with streaming options powered by access to ultra-fast Internet like what is available through our all-fiber network,” Abernathy said. (More after paywall.)