Cable TV had a really bad 2018 with over 1.1 million subscribers canceling their traditional pay-TV services in just the 4th quarter. This news comes as today Dish announced that they lost 334,000 pay TV subscribers in the 4th quarter of 2018.

Dish’s losses are in addition to the 658,000 DIRECTV lost, 36,000 Spectrum lost, 19,000 Comcast lost, and 46,000 Fios lost. These numbers do not even count the losses from smaller cable TV companies like Cox. In total pay-TV companies lost 2.5 million subscribers in 2018.

What is even scarier is that in the same period of 2017 pay-TV services gained 135,000 subscribers thanks to huge adds by AT&T and Dish mostly thanks to their live TV streaming services.

At this rate of growth Cord Cutting could add over 5 million new cord cutters just from canceled cable TV subscriptions. This does not count the Americans who grow up and move out of their parents home but never pay for a cable TV services.

The news may even be worse for small cable TV companies. Recently it was announced that the cable TV company RTC will be ending TV services on July 1st, 2019. Reports are they are just one of many small cable TV companies looking at this option.

RTC’s website has the following statement:

Based on what we see for the future and what’s best for our customers, RTC Communications will no longer provide video service as part of our entertainment package effective July 1, 2019. For years, our customers have had access to a wide range of channels of information, entertainment and sports. As you probably know, more than half of all usage on the internet is video of all forms and formats to suit all tastes and styles. We have been monitoring and evaluating the trends in video and are making significant changes and restructuring in light of what we see in the market today, and in the future. This business decision was purely in the interest of our customers and stemmed from long-term planning by RTC’s senior leadership team as part of a plan to ensure the health of the company.

RTC went on to say, “Although this was a hard decision to make, we feel that it is in the best interest of our co-op owners, employees and community as a whole. We regret any inconvenience this announcement may cause, and we will offer our assistance in helping you decide upon an alternate video product that best fit your needs.”

Did you cancel cable TV in the 4th quarter of 2018? Leave us a comment and let us know why you made that move.

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