Pay-TV providers lost almost 1.5 million subscribers in 2017

A Leichtman Research Group (LRG) study found that in 2017 the country’s largest traditional pay-TV providers, including the largest cable and telephone companies, lost almost 1.5 million subscribers.

Frontier lost more than 184,000 pay-TV subscribers, while Verizon lost 75,000 subscribers through its FiOS service. The cable companies also lost pay-TV subscriptions: Charter lost 239,000 and Altice lost 129,000. Comcast lost 151,000 subscribers.

The total net loss of pay-TV subscribers remained just below 1.5 million thanks to Internet-delivered services. Sling TV and DirecTV Now added more than 800,000 new subscriptions. DirecTV Now’s 888,000 new subscriptions off-set the 624,000 million lost U-verse subscriptions that AT&T reported.

"The pay-TV market saw net losses increase in 2017, and the continuation of a share shift from traditional services to newer Internet-delivered services," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. "Satellite TV services, DIRECTV and DISH TV, had more combined net losses in 2017 than in any previous year, yet these losses were offset by gains from their Internet-delivered flanker brands, DIRECTV NOW and Sling TV. Overall, the top pay-TV services lost 1.6% of subscribers in 2017 compared to a loss of 0.8% in 2016."

LRG’s breakdown of the study:

Link:

Major Pay-TV Providers Lost about 1,495,000 Subscribers in 2017 (Leichtman Research Group, Mar. 12,2018)