Cable companies have lost about 3.4 million subscribers in the last six years according to the latest numbers from Leichtman Research Group, a firm that specializes in the analysis of the U.S. broadband, media and entertainment industries.
“The number of pay-TV subscribers for the top providers peaked six years ago. Since 1Q 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.”
The top six cable companies lost 285,000 video subscribers in the first quarter of 2018, compared to a loss of about 115,000 subscribers during the same quarter of 2017.
Satellite TV services lost about 375,000 in Q1 2018 compared to a loss of 340,000 in Q1 2017.
The top telephone providers, Verizon, AT&T and Frontier lost about 50,000 video subscribers in Q1 2018 compared with a loss of 325,000 subscribers in Q1 2017. It was the fewest number of lost subscribers for any quarter since Q3 2015 for telephone providers.
AT&T U-verse did not report net video losses for the first time since 1Q 2015.
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