Report: US Q1 pay-TV losses slow
May 17, 2018
Findings from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that the largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – lost about 305,000 net video subscribers in Q1 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 515,000 subscribers in Q1 2017.
The top pay-TV providers now account for about 91.9 million subscribers – with the top six cable companies having 47.8 million video subscribers, satellite TV services 31.1 million subscribers, the top telephone companies 9.2 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered pay-TV services 3.8 million subscribers.
Key findings for the quarter include:
- The top six cable companies lost about 285,000 video subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss about 115,000 subscribers in Q1 2017
- Satellite TV services lost about 375,000 subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of about 340,000 subscribers in Q1 2017
- The top telephone providers lost about 50,000 video subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of 325,000 subscribers in Q1 2017
- Net losses for the top Telcos in Q1 2018 were the fewest in any quarter since Q32015
- AT&T U-verse did not report net video losses for the first time since Q1 2015
- Internet-delivered services (Sling TV and DirecTV NOW) added about 405,000 subscribers in 1Q 2018 – compared to about 265,000 net adds in Q1 2017
- Traditional pay-TV services (not including Internet-delivered services) lost about 710,000 subscribers in Q1 2018 – compared to a loss of about 780,000 in Q1 2017
“The number of pay-TV subscribers for the top providers peaked six years ago. Since Q1 2012, top providers have lost about 3.4 million total pay-TV subscribers,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “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.”
| Pay-TV Providers | Subscribers at end of Q1 2018 | Net Adds in Q1 2018 |
| Cable Companies | ||
| Comcast | 22,261,000 | (96,000) |
| Charter | 16,885,000 | (112,000) |
| Cox | 4,100,000 | (30,000) |
| Altice | 3,375,100 | (30,400) |
| Mediacom | 817,000 | (4,000) |
| Cable ONE | 350,874 | (13,014) |
| Total Top Cable | 47,788,974 | (285,414) |
| Satellite Services (DBS) | ||
| DirecTV | 20,270,000 | (188,000) |
| DISH TV | 10,845,000 | (185,000) |
| Total DBS | 31,115,000 | (373,000) |
| Phone Companies | ||
| Verizon FiOS | 4,597,000 | (22,000) |
| AT&T U-verse | 3,657,000 | 0 |
| Frontier | 934,000 | (27,000) |
| Total Top Phone | 9,188,000 | (49,000) |
| Internet-Delivered | ||
| Sling TV | 2,303,000 | 91,000 |
| DirecTV NOW | 1,467,000 | 312,000 |
| Total Top Internet-Delivered | 3,770,000 | 403,000 |
| Total Top Providers | 91,861,974 | (304,414) |
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.