Pay-TV Operators Lost Nearly 1.5 Million Subs in 2017
March 12, 2018
Domestic pay-TV representing about 95% of the market lost about 1.49 million net video subscribers in 2017, compared to a pro forma loss of about 760,000 subscribers in 2016, according to new data from Leichtman Research Group. Traditional pay-TV services (not including Internet-delivered) lost about 3 million subs in 2017, compared to a loss of about 1.9 million subs in 2016.
The pay-TV providers account for 92.2 million subscribers — with the top six cable companies having about 48.1 million video subs, satellite TV services 31.5 million subscribers, telecoms 9.2 million subs, and online TV platforms with 3.4 million subscribers.
Leichtman said the top six cable companies lost about 660,000 video subs compared to a loss of 275,000 subs in 2016.
In 2017, the top cable providers cumulatively lost 1.4% of video subscribers — compared to a loss of 0.6% in 2016. Satellite TV services lost about 1.55 million subs in 2017 — compared to a loss of about 40,000 subs in 2016. DirecTV lost 554,000 subs compared to a gain of 1.22 million subs in 2016.
In 2017, DBS services cumulatively lost 4.7% of video subscribers — compared to a loss 0.1% in 2016
The top telephone providers lost about 885,000 video subscribers in 2017 — compared to a loss of about 1.59 million subs. AT&T U-verse lost 624,000 subs in 2017, compared to a loss of 1.35 million subs.
In 2017, the top Telcos cumulatively lost 8.7% of video subs, compared to a loss of 13.6% in 2016. The top (publicly reporting) Internet-delivered services added about 1.6 million subs in 2017, compared to 1.14 million net adds in 2016.
Subscribers to the top Internet-delivered services increased by 90% in 2017.
“Satellite TV services 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, such as DirecTV Now and Sling TV,” analyst Bruce Leichtman said in a statement. “Overall, the top pay-TV services lost 1.6% of subscribers in 2017 compared to a loss of 0.8% in 2016.”
| Pay-TV Providers | Subscribers at End of 4Q 2017 |
Net Adds in 2017 |
| Cable Companies | ||
| Comcast | 22,357,000 | (151,000) |
| Charter | 16,997,000 | (239,000) |
| Altice | 3,405,500 | (129,000) |
| Mediacom | 821,000 | (14,000) |
| Cable ONE* | 283,001 | (37,245) |
| Other major private company** | 4,200,000 | (90,000) |
| Total Top Cable | 48,063,501 | (660,245) |
| Satellite Services (DBS) | ||
| DIRECTV | 20,458,000 | (554,000) |
| DISH TV^ | 11,030,000 | (995,000) |
| Total DBS | 31,488,000 | (1,549,000) |
| Phone Companies | ||
| Verizon FiOS | 4,619,000 | (75,000) |
| AT&T U-verse | 3,657,000 | (624,000) |
| Frontier | 961,000 | (184,000) |
| Total Top Phone | 9,237,000 | (883,000) |
| Internet-Delivered | ||
| Sling TV^^ | 2,212,000 | 711,000 |
| DIRECTV NOW | 1,155,000 | 888,000 |
| Total Top Internet-Delivered | 3,367,000 | 1,599,000 |
| Total Top Providers | 92,155,501 | (1,493,245) |