Amidst all the doom and gloom, and suggestions that US ‘cord-cutters’ are gaining ground, data proves that multichannel subscription-led TV is as popular as ever. The USA’s top 13 multichannel video providers (representing 94 per cent of the total market) enjoyed total net gains of 260,000 new subs in Q1, and up from 230,000 in the 2012.

The data, from Leichtman Research Group, was broken down into three segments: cable TV, satellite TV and IP-delivered services. The top nine cable operators, commanding 50.4 million subs between them, lost about 50,000 subs in Q1, and this is the lowest  loss of business since Q1/2009.  Satellite’s two layers with 34.4 million subs added a net 52,000 subscribers (down a tad from the previous year’s 57,000) while the most gains were made by the telcos which added 258,000 subs and down on last year’s Q1 of 401,000.

Indeed, cumulative net additions, says Leitchman, were the best in Q1 since 2012.

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