Study: Satellite TV Drives 47% Surge in Pay-TV Subscriber Losses in 2018
March 7, 2019
The country’s largest pay-TV operators – representing about 95% of the market – lost more 2.8 million net video subscribers in 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 1.5 million subs in 2017, according to new data from Leichtman Research Group.
The pay-TV providers account for 89.1 million subscribers – with the top six cable companies having 47 million video subs, satellite TV services (29.1 million); telecoms (9 million), and top online TV services with 4 million subs.
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Specifically, Leichtman found satellite TV lost about 2.4 million subs in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 1.55 million subs in 2017. DirecTV lost 1.23 million subs in 2018 – compared to a loss of 554,000 subs in 2017. In 2018, DBS services cumulatively lost 7.5% of video subs – compared to a loss of 4.7% in 2017.
Six cable companies lost about 910,000 video subs in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 680,000 subs in 2017. In 2018, cable providers cumulatively lost 1.9% of video subs — compared to a loss of 1.4% in 2017.
Telephone companies lost about 245,000 video subs 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 subs in 2017. In 2018, telecoms cumulatively lost 2.6% of video subscribers – compared to a loss of 8.7% in 2017.
Online TV services Sling TV and DirecTV Now, added about 640,000 subs in 2018 – compared to about 1.6 million net adds in 2017.
Subscribers to these online TV platforms increased by 19% in 2018 – compared to an increase of 90% in 2017. Traditional pay-TV services (not including online TV) lost about 3.5 subs in 2018 – compared to a loss of about 3.1 million in 2017.
“Since the industry’s peak in 1Q 2012, pay-TV subs for the top providers have declined by about 6 million,” analyst Bruce Leichtman said in a statement. “This reflects a decline of about 10 million subs, offset by the addition of about 4 million online TV subs.”
| Pay-TV Providers | Subscribers at end of 4Q 2018 | Net Adds in 2018 |
| Cable Companies | ||
| Comcast | 21,986,000 | (371,000) |
| Charter | 16,606,000 | (244,000) |
| Cox* | 4,015,000 | (115,000) |
| Altice | 3,307,500 | (98,000) |
| Mediacom | 776,000 | (45,000) |
| Cable ONE | 326,423 | (37,465) |
| Total Top Cable | 47,016,923 | (910,465) |
| Satellite Services (DBS) | ||
| DIRECTV | 19,222,000 | (1,236,000) |
| DISH TV | 9,905,000 | (1,125,000) |
| Total DBS | 29,197,000 | (2,361,000) |
| Phone Companies | ||
| Verizon FiOS | 4,451,000 | (168,000) |
| AT&T U-verse | 3,704,000 | 47,000 |
| Frontier | 838,000 | (123,000) |
| Total Top Phone | 8,993,000 | (244,000) |
| Internet-Delivered (vMVPD) | ||
| Sling TV | 2,417,000 | 205,000 |
| DIRECTV NOW | 1,591,000 | 436,000 |
| Total Top vMVPD^ | 4,008,000 | 641,000 |
| Total Top Providers | 89,144,923 | (2,874,465) |