Ongoing pay-TV subscriber defections cooled a bit in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, according to new data from Leichtman Research Group. The firm found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. — representing about 95% of the market — lost about 120,000 net video subscribers in 3Q, compared with a pro forma net loss of about 945,000 in the previous-year period.
The top pay-TV providers now account for about 82.6 million subscribers — with the top seven cable companies having 44.3 million video subscribers; satellite TV services having about 22.6 million subs; telephone companies having 8 million subs, and Internet-delivered pay-TV services having 7.7 million subs.
Satellite TV services lost about 775,000 in 3Q — compared with about 1.14 million subs in 3Q 2019. The top seven cable companies lost about 375,000 video subs, compared with about 410,000 subs a year ago. Telephone providers lost about 5,000 video subs, compared with about 210,000 subs in 3Q 2019. Online TV services, which include Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV Now and fuboTV, added 1.03 million subs, compared with about 815,000 net adds a year ago.
“With the return of live sports in 3Q 2020, Internet-delivered vMVPDs had more net additions than in any previous quarter, and pay-TV overall had fewer net losses than in any quarter since 1Q 2018,” analyst Bruce Leichtman said in a statement.
Leichtman said Hulu + Live TV is now the fifth largest pay-TV service in the U.S., and YouTube TV now has over three million subs, including 1 million net additions thus far in 2020.
Dish Network Feb. 21 announced that its Sling TV unit ended 2017 with more than 2.21 million subscribers – up 47% from 1.5 million subs at the end of 2016. Launched in early 2015, Sling TV was the first standalone…
Taking a page from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and wholly-owned subsidiary Hulu, Disney is reportedly seeking partnerships with foreign pay-TV operators for its branded subscription streaming video platform, Disney+. Disney, unlike Netflix, Hulu and Prime Video, has existing pay-TV distribution…
Paul Kagan, whose Carmel. Calif.-based cable TV research firm, Paul Kagan & Associates, morphed into one of the industry's top analysis companies, has died at the age of 82. Kagan's family, in an online obituary, announced his passing on Aug.…
About 75% of TV households in the United States subscribe to pay-TV service (cable, satellite, telecom or online TV). That's down from 84% five years ago, according to new data from Leichtman Research Group. Spending on pay-TV services among subscribers…
