By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Cedar Falls Utilities, the local municipal utility providing a variety of services in town, will discontinue its cable TV offerings on Oct. 11, 2026, the company said in an Oct. 2, 2025, press release.
Susan Abernathy, the utility’s general manager, said the utility will remain focused on delivering affordable high-quality internet services. No jobs will be lost at CFU due to the decision to drop cable TV services, she added.
Abernathy told the Cedar Falls News Hub that the board of trustees, which governs CFU, made the decision to stop offering cable TV after long deliberations and analysis.
“The board evaluated this very, very carefully,” she said. “And the bottom line is streaming services dominate this entertainment space and we are unable to provide cable TV services that compete in price or quality.”
Ultimately, the board concluded that in the current environment, where many consumers have moved away from cable TV and embraced streaming services, it would be unsustainable to keep the status quo, she said.
About 83% of Americans use streaming services and about 36% subscribe to cable or satellite TV, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center.
A look at the data provided by CFU offers a similar picture. In Cedar Falls in July of 2013, CFU had 9,992 cable TV customers and 10,917 data and internet customers, Abernathy said. Today, CFU has 4,500 cable customers and over 17,000 data and internet customers.
“In other words, most people are getting their TV programming by streaming over the internet,” she said.
Cedar Falls Channel 15 future
CFU’s announcement spurred concerns and conversations about the future of Channel 15, which offers quality community programming, created by the Cable Division of the City of Cedar Falls.
Abernathy clarified that CFU is one of the providers that carry the content to local homes.
“It is not CFU’s decision to determine the future of Channel 15,” she said. “The board’s decision to stop cable TV services is a business decision, which is an accurate reflection of our current times and our industry, but it is not a reflection or a judgment on the value of community programming that’s provided by the City of Cedar Falls Cable Division. It’s two entirely separate things.”
Mayor Danny Laudick told the Cedar Falls News Hub on Friday that the city council will look at ways to keep Channel 15 programming. The council meetings currently are also streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
Council woman at-large Kelly Dunn said she was not surprised by CFU’s announcement ending cable TV services by next October.
“I know my own family ended our service a couple of years ago,” she said. “We struggled with that decision as we love CFU and the service they provide, but the main struggle was with the thought of losing access in our home to Channel 15 as we enjoyed the information and quality programs about our Cedar Falls community.
“At this time, I don’t know enough to know the future of Channel 15. My first concern is for the people who work in that department and caring for them. The next concern is for the quality-of-life aspect that Channel 15 adds to our community and looking for a plan that would allow us to continue to have Channel 15 available. I expect this to be a conversation during the city’s goal-setting process.”
Explaining CFU’s decision to end cable TV in October of 2026
Abernathy said the decision is consistent with one of the utility’s core values, which is innovation.
“Change is inevitable,” she told me. “It is how society progresses — through change and innovation. Innovation is change and we don’t progress if we don’t change, it’s an integral part of how we do business. We have to lop off what doesn’t make sense, and cable TV doesn’t make sense anymore where streaming is king in this industry.”
She added that the CFU board understands that the process is not going to be easy for some customers.
“We recognize that change is hard and it can be difficult for people, but we are here to help them through it,” she said.
Incentives for those who make the move by end of the year
Abernathy said those customers who make the move before the end of 2025 will be incentivized by having their internet bill reduced to $30 per month rather than $57.50 for three months.
What to do with cable TV boxes
In addition to the rising costs, changes in consumer habits and the availability of streaming to deliver content, there is also the issue of cable TV boxes, Abernathy said. These devices have reached the end of their life and cannot be replaced because it is unclear for how long CFU can supply them. She said customers should return the boxes to CFU for proper disposal but if they do not, they will not be charged for not returning the box.
The timing of the announcement
Asked about the timing of the announcement, Abernathy said that the board has been discussing the issue for some time.
“While it may seem sudden to people, the other piece of that is that three-fourths of our customers have already moved to something different and we just can’t keep sustaining that from a business standpoint,” she said.
A letter to customers
In a letter to customers, CFU explained the board’s decision like this:
“The cable television landscape has changed dramatically in recent years,” the letter says. “With the rise of streaming services and on demand platforms, many of the popular shows and games are not available on cable TV. CFU is unable to provide the same quality of TV programming you previously enjoyed.
“More customers have chosen flexible, internet-based entertainment options over traditional cable TV. Large national streaming services like YouTube TV let you watch shows outside of your home, a feature CFU TV and other traditional cable providers are restricted from offering.
At the same time, the cost of CFU cable TV has continued to increase, driven by rising content fees and complex agreements with network owners. We can no longer provide a TV service at a price that is reasonable or provide value to our customers.”
What CFU will continue to focus on
Abernathy said CFU will prioritize continuing to provide high-quality internet services.
“We remain committed to continue to deliver fast, affordable, dependable internet to help support our customers with their streaming, with their work, with their learning, with their connecting,” she said.
“In order for us to continue to focus on what is really the key in this industry right now, which is the internet, which is streaming, that’s what we are going to invest our time and energy and people and money in.
“We are going to focus on the things that we do really well. We are going to continue to provide and invest in internet services. Our fiber network will continue to provide world class internet to our community.”