U.S. Pay-TV Subscriber Losses More Than Triple To 1.5M In Q2, Report Finds
U.S. Pay-TV Subscriber Losses More Than Triple To 1.5M In
Q2, Report Finds
By Dade Hayes August 12, 2019 5:58am
The largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. saw video
subscriber losses more than triple to 1.53 million in the second quarter,
according to the latest report from Leichtman Research Group.
The tally marks is up dramatically from the 420,000 losses
in the second quarter of 2018. LRG based the figures on its findings for
companies representing 93% of the total marketplace.
“This marked the fourth consecutive quarter of record
pay-TV industry net losses,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal
analyst for LRG. “With an increased focus on acquiring and retaining profitable
subscribers, [satellite] services accounted for more than half of the net
pay-TV losses in 2Q 2019, and 63% of the losses over the past year.”
True cord-cutting is taking place, but the video
subscriber declines have also been accompanied by gains in broadband customers
as many households shift toward streaming. That means top cable operators like
Comcast and Charter can still forge profitable paths despite shedding traditional
customers. The lack of broadband offerings at satellite companies, though,
means the numbers for DirecTV and Dish Network are resonating more loudly.
DirecTV had 17.9 million subscribers at the end of the
quarter, having dropped 778,000, while Dish Network had its best quarter since
the end of 2014, dropping just 79,000.
On a 12-month basis, top pay-TV providers have now lost 5
million subscribers over the past five years, compared with losses of just shy
of 1.1 million in the prior year.
All together, the top providers have about 86.6 million
subscribers, the lowest level in more than a decade.
Recent carriage disputes between CBS and DirecTV parent
AT&T as well as a still-unresolved fight between Dish Network and HBO have
highlighted the intensifying pressure on the traditional pay-TV bundle.
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