Major US pay-TV providers lost 400,000+ subs in Q3
November 15, 2017
Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the US — representing about 95 per cent of the market – lost around 405,000 net video subscribers in Q3 2017, compared to a loss of 250,000 subscribers in Q3 2016.
The top pay-TV providers account for 92.2 million subscribers — with the top six cable companies having 48.1 million video subscribers, satellite TV services about 32.3 million subscribers, the top telephone companies 9.3 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered pay-TV services having about 2.5 million subscribers.
Key findings for the quarter include:
- The top six cable companies lost some 290,000 video subscribers in Q3 2017 — compared to a loss of circa 90,000 subscribers in Q3 2016
- Satellite TV services lost about 475,000 subscribers in 3Q 2017 — compared to a gain of around 5,000 subscribers in Q3 2016
- DBS net losses were more than in any previous quarter
- DirecTV had 251,000 net losses in Q3 2017 — compared to a gain of 323,000 in Q3 2016
- Internet-delivered services (Sling TV and DirecTV NOW) added about 535,000 subscribers in Q3 2017 – compared to about 200,000 net adds in Q3 2016
“The top two Internet-delivered pay-TV services added over a half million subscribers in Q3 2017, bringing their combined total to nearly 2.5 million subscribers, and further entrenching this newer form of delivery as part of today’s pay-TV industry,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Overall, the top pay-TV providers lost about 155,000 more subscribers in Q3 2017 than in Q3 2016.”