Less than a week after Cablevision reported that it gained 7,000 basic cable customers, Charter Communications said Thursday that it picked up 20,000 video subscribers during the first quarter. New CEO Tom Rutledge said it was the first quarter in more than five years that Charter has posted video subscriber growth.

It's a big score for Charter, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 and has revamped its leadership team. Rutledge, a former Cablevision COO, took over as Charter CEO in December.

The fourth largest cable MSO said it picked up 141,000 cable modem customers, compared to 90,000 in the first quarter of 2011. It gained 31,000 phone customers, up from 24,000 this time last year.

The average Charter video subscriber spent $146.77 monthly for its triple play during the first quarter, up 7 percent from last year. Charter saw its Q1 revenue increase 2.8 percent on a pro forma basis to $1.827 billion. The company narrowed its net loss to $94 million (95 cents per share) compared to the net loss of $110 million (97 cents per share) it reported in 2011.

Charter said its capital expenditures decreased by $16 million to $340 million in the first quarter, which it attributed to the timing of infrastructure spending which were offset by investments in customer premise equipment and installations.

The subscriber growth at Charter and Cablevision--coupled with decreased subscriber losses in the first quarter at Comcast and Time Warner Cable--bode well for the cable industry. It indicates subscribers are drawn to cable's triple-play bundles, and that fewer customers are cutting the cord on pay TV to rely on Internet video for home entertainment. The earnings reports also give the industry some momentum as it heads into The Cable Show convention in Boston later this month.