At 976,000 U.S. pay TV subscriber losses come in better than expected in second quarter
PR Newswire
MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 15, 2017
MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The legacy
multichannel universe lost a record number of customers in the quarter ended June 30, 2017, but
managed to keep the decline below the symbolic 1-million threshold. At the mid-year mark, however, the trajectory continues to
point to an unprecedented annual decline according to data compiled by Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market
Intelligence.
Overall, traditional multichannel subscriptions dropped below 96.1 million in the second quarter, down 1.8 million since
year-end 2016. Adding the top two virtual service providers (VSPs) affiliated with legacy multichannel distributors –DISH
Network's Sling TV and AT&T's DIRECTV NOW – lifts the combined total subscriptions to a package of live linear channels and
on-demand content to 98 million.
Additional takeaways from Kagan's 2nd-quarter U.S. Multichannel Subscriber report:
- Cable operators lost 246,000 total video customers. Following the sizable first-quarter drop, total losses at the mid-year
mark are up 55.6% annually.
- Traditional satellite services took a hit in the second quarter, posting an estimated net loss of 443,000 subscriptions to
retreat below the 33 million threshold for the first time since 2010.
- Total traditional video subs on the telco platform dropped to 10.9 million, declining 10.9% annually. With AT&T
emphasizing DIRECTV as its primary delivery platform, U-verse accounted for two thirds of the decline.
- Based on figures compiled from U.S. Census reports, a calculated 75.8% of the potential residential universe subscribe to a
legacy multichannel product in the second-quarter.
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SOURCE S&P Global Market Intelligence
