Cable Has Lost 3.4 Million TV Customers Since 2012 The cord cutting phenomenon saw a slight slowdown during the first quarter, with the nation's biggest pay TV providers losing "just" 305,000 subscribers during the first quarter. According to the latest study from Leichtman Research, that's a notable improvement from the half a million subscribers the industry lost one year earlier. That said, Leichtman's numbers tend to be notably lower than many Wall Street analyst estimates, and the cord cutting phenomenon is expected to heat back up during the second quarter, when many college students go home for the summer.

And Leichtman makes it very clear that the trend of cord cutting isn't going anywhere, as users continue to express fatigue at high prices and poor customer service by shifting to streaming alternatives. "The number of pay-TV subscribers for the top providers peaked six years ago. Since 1Q 2012, top providers have lost about 3.4 million total pay-TV subscribers," analyst Bruce Leichtman stated. "Since the industry’s peak, traditional services have lost about 7.2 million subscribers, while the top publicly reporting Internet-delivered services gained about 3.8 million subscribers." Satellite TV providers continued to be the hardest hit during the quarter, with DirecTV losing 188,000 traditional satellite customers, and Dish losing 185,000 traditional satellite customers. And while both AT&T and Dish managed to recoup some of those losses via their streaming video services (DirecTV Now and Sling TV, respectively), customers of those services pay significantly less money per month, a trend that continues to worry Wall Street investors all too comfortable with the traditional cable TV cash cow. More details on losses broken down by delivery type: • The top six cable companies lost about 285,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2018 -- compared to a loss about 115,000 subscribers in 1Q 2017 • Satellite TV services lost about 375,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018 -- compared to a loss of about 340,000 subscribers in 1Q 2017 • The top telephone providers lost about 50,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2018 -- compared to a loss of 325,000 subscribers in 1Q 2017 • The top telephone providers lost about 50,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2018 -- compared to a loss of 325,000 subscribers in 1Q 2017







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Most recommended from 34 comments



Economist

The economy, stupid

Premium Member

join:2015-07-10

united state ·AT&T FTTP

19 recommendations Economist Premium Member Awe come on! $100-$150 a month for 20 minutes of commercials an hour PLUS awesome equipment fees, broadcast fees, local sports fees and the ever awesome franchise fees? Then comes the bonus of annual 3X inflation price increases, just because?



You mean people aren't interested in that? Say it ain't so, Joe!

maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 13 recommendations maartena Premium Member Queue the entrance of the cable shills.... C'mon Anon"xxxx" from @rr.com, aren't you awake yet and ready to defend the awesomeness that is Cable 1.0? microphone

Premium Member

join:2009-04-29

Parkville, MD 11 recommendations microphone Premium Member We need better content at lower production costs I could probably aim a hi-def camera at an aquarium and make that a channel; and it would get better ratings than probably half the channels on there.

camper

just visiting this planet

Premium Member

join:2010-03-21

Bethel, CT 8 recommendations camper Premium Member Rule #1 when you want to sell something...

Sell what customers want to buy.



The problem with cable TV is that they force customers to buy things (e.g., expensive sports programming) that they do not want.

Anon3b537

@172.58.200.x 3 recommendations Anon3b537 Anon Cable Cable sucks its way to exspensive and its the same old movies day after day.you never get a free pay per view channel for a weekend, but there quick to send you your bill every month . Im getting rid of cable myself and getting something that doesnt cost an arm and a leg