Canada: Record TV subs loss
November 10, 2015
Canada’s publicly traded television service providers combined lost almost seven times more TV subscribers in the nine‐month period ended September 30th 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, according to research from consulting firm Boon Dog.
The big TV service providers combined lost a record 153,000 TV subscribers in their respective three fiscal 2015 quarters, up significantly from 22,000 lost in the same quarters in 2014. In the three-month period alone, which is traditionally a stronger quarter for subscriber results, the publicly traded TV service providers lost 39,000 TV subscribers, up sharply from 4,800 lost in the same period in 2014.
“The ongoing trend of the cable companies losing customers to the IPTV companies continued with the latest subscriber results,” notes Boon Dog Partner Mario Mota. “Perhaps more importantly, however, are the significant structural milestones occurring in the TV service market. For example, as of September 30, Bell became the largest TV service provider in Canada, surpassing Shaw. Why is this significant? Shaw has been providing TV services for almost 50 years, while Bell began offering TV services 18 years ago. In addition, Boon Dog estimates that the number of IPTV subscribers will surpass DTH satellite TV subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2015.”