Mediacom has acquired TV Cable of Andalusia, commonly known as Andy Cable. The sale was finalized this week.

Ivan Bishop, whose father founded the cable company in 1965, said customers will not see immediate changes.

“The biggest question I’ve gotten is ‘Will my email address still work?,’ ” he said.

Bishop said the timing was right for the change.

“It’s a challenge for an independent operator to keep up with the technology and the changes going on in our industry,” he said. The company that once delivered linear content – cable only – is now a communication company that provides cable, Internet and telephone service.

“There is more competition than there ever was before,” Bishop said. “People’s viewing habits have changed tremendously. People are watching on mobile devices and computers. The time was right to move on.

“These are good people,” he said of Mediacom. “They’re in a lot of smaller markets such as Andalusia.”

Mediacom.

Mediacom, which began almost 21 years ago in California, is now the eight-largest cable operator in the country. When it celebrated its 20th anniversary last March, Multichannel News reported the company provided nearly 1.3 million customers with TV, Internet and phone services in 1,500 communities across 22states. The company’s fiber optic network extends more than 568,000 miles – enough to stretch to the moon and back.

The company recently rolled out its “Gigasphere” platform, the latest generation of broadband technology. As a result, virtually all of the homes and businesses that Mediacom serves across its 22 state footprint will be able to enjoy speeds that are up to 40 times faster than the minimum broadband definition set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

 

Bishop said all of the company’s services won’t be available here immediately, but customers will see changes over the next few months.

Most of the local employees are staying, Bishop said.

Mediacom currently serves a number of communities west of Andalusia, including Brewton, Atmore, Monroeville, Thomasville, and parts of the Mobile area.

Bishop likes to tell the story of TV Cable’s first official customer – The Gables. Most of the crew that was building the system were housed there, and they got service first. Cable service was $4.95 per month, and included eight channels. The company now provides service to more than 14,000 accounts.

“We’ve grown from that to a communications network that includes pay TV, Internet and telephone,” Bishop said. The company acquired Clearview Cable in 2004, and the Opp cable system in 2015.

“I’d like to thank the people of Andalusia, Covington County and Opp for their support over the years,” Bishop said. “I think Mediacom will continue to provide reliable communications services for this area.”

Bishop is officially retiring. Among the things he was preparing to pack this week is his desk, which his father, Jefferson Dige Bishop, used when he moved to Andalusia in 1946 to build the city’s first radio station, WCTA. Dige Bishop died last May at 101.

Mike Russell, who will remain with the company, said customers will begin seeing Mediacom trucks working in the area as early as this week.