Major US pay-TV providers lost 2,875,000 subs in 2018

March 7, 2019 08.32 Europe/London By Broadband TV News Correspondent


The largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95% of the market – lost about 2,875,000 net video subscribers in 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 1,510,000 subscribers in 2017.

According to the Leichtman Research Group, the top pay-TV providers account for 89.1 million subscribers – with the top six cable companies having 47 million video subscribers, satellite TV services 29.1 million subscribers, the top telephone companies 9 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services 4 million subscribers.

Key findings include: – Satellite TV services lost about 2,360,000 subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 1,550,000 subscribers in 2017.
– DirecTV lost 1,236,000 subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of 554,000 subscribers in 2017
– In 2018, DTH services cumulatively lost 7.5% of video subscribers – compared to a loss of 4.7% in 2017
– The top six cable companies lost about 910,000 video subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 680,000 subscribers in 2017
– In 2018, the top cable providers cumulatively lost 1.9% of video subscribers – compared to a loss of 1.4% in 2017
– The top telephone companies lost about 245,000 video subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 885,000 in 2017
– AT&T U-verse added 47,000 subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of 624,000 subscribers in 2017
– In 2018, the top Telcos cumulatively lost 2.6% of video subscribers – compared to a loss of 8.7% in 2017
– The top publicly reporting Internet-delivered (vMVPD) services, Sling TV and DIRECTV NOW, added about 640,000 subscribers in 2018 – compared to about 1,600,000 net adds in 2017
– Subscribers to these vMVPD services increased by 19% in 2018 – compared to an increase of 90% in 2017
– Traditional pay-TV services (not including vMVPD) lost about 3,515,000 subscribers in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 3,110,000 in 2017

“The pay-TV market saw net losses increase in 2018. Overall, the top pay-TV providers lost 3.1% of subscribers in 2018 compared to a loss of 1.6% in 2017,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group.

“Since the industry’s peak in 1Q 2012, pay-TV subscribers for the top providers have declined by about 6,000,000. This reflects a decline of about 10,000,000 subscribers for traditional services, offset by the addition of about 4,000,000 subscribers for the publicly reporting vMVPD services.”