Pay-TV Lost 1.5M Subscribers In Q2 2019, Says Leichtman

TV Technology ^ | August 12, 2019 | Michael Balderston

[EdnaMode]

Pay-TV keeps taking hits in subscribers, with Leichtman Research Group finding in its latest quarterly report that about 1.53 million people dropped their pay-TV subscriptions during the second quarter of 2019. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of decline, per Leichtman, and more than a million of subscribers cutting their service from the same time period in 2018 (420,000).

Consisting of the top 14 pay-TV services in the U.S. making up about 93% of the market, which includes satellite, cable, phone and vMVPDs. Satellite companies lost about 855,000 subscribers during Q2, with DirecTV accounting for 778,000 alone in its fifth straight quarter of net losses; Dish’s losses of 79,000 resulted in its best quarter since Q2 2014.

Cable, meanwhile, had its worst quarter since Q2 2014, experiencing a net loss among the top seven companies of 455,000. Comcast took the biggest hit, but is still the top cable provider by a wide margin.

The top telephone providers lost about 100,000 video subscribers—more than double its Q2 2018 numbers—and vMVPD services even suffered a loss of 120,000 subscribers; they experienced a net add of 385,000 in Q2 2018.

In the past year, the top pay-TV providers have lost about 5,015,000 subscribers; the year prior saw a loss of 1,060,000 subscribers.

“This marked the fourth consecutive quarter of record pay-TV industry net losses,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG. “With an increased focus on acquiring and retaining profitable subscribers, DBS services accounted for more than half of the net pay-TV losses in 2Q 2019, and 63% of the losses over the past year.”

[EdnaMode]

Mainstream Media hardest hit.

[tennmountainman]

And I recently became one of them too.

[MarMema]

Wonderful news. Everybody stream.

[buckalfa]

I have Spectrum. Oddly enough I am totally satisfied with quality and customer service. It is the cost that bites. Tried the various internet TV services. Wife objected so for a happy life, well you know the drill.

[LexRex in TN]

As did we! Don’t miss it a bit!

[PistolPaknMama]

Pay TV is not the same as cable?

[Openurmind]

“with DirecTV accounting for 778,000 alone in its fifth straight quarter of net losses”

Good, Direct TV are thieves and deserve every bit of this. What do they all expect when they promote leftist ideology and propaganda garbage.

[suthener]

I quit cable/satellite several years ago. I refuse to pay for CNN, MSNBC, the homosexual channel, etc. I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but you don’t have to watch them, you’re still paying for and supporting them.

[adorno]

Wonderful news. Everybody stream.

Problem is, streaming services are becoming expensive too, and there is hardly anything free, other than OTA, which is spotty and not very clear. And, you don't get the local channels with streaming. Fact and problem is that, the streaming services come via the same providers as cable.

I gave up trying to make do with the streaming and OTA antennas, and came back to cable. Maybe someday somebody will make streaming worthwhile and inexpensive.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

DirecTV’s on line payments went to hell after ATT bought them out. I can’t even get the ATT web page to open.

[mylife]

Give Us Ala Carte!

[mylife]

Streaming is becoming the same BS.

[cld51860]

Me too. Dropped Direct TV. Now paying less than half what I was paying by going to Hulu.

[Openurmind]

Their non fixed “extortion package per customer scam” is out of hand.

[CtBigPat]

I have Comcast super basic (local channels) and internet. $70 a month for three TV's. I have built in Roku on my TV and between Pluto TV (free) and YouTube there is always something on to watch.

[Openurmind]

Yep, Good for you.

[bytesmith]

Same here. Have Spectrum and a recorder. Keeps my wife happy otherwise it would be gone.

[Grampa Dave]

We are into our third year of a cut cable/Comcast. Our new Comcast Business costs a little over $100/month, plus 15$/mo for Acorn and 2 other channels. During baseball season, we subscribe to Sling Blue and don’t pay ESPN, Fox, ABC nor Disney. Sling Blue costs us $25/month.

Comcast business internet is faster and appears to be more reliable than the old internet in the regular comcast internet.

Two neighbors with the same old Comcast system, we used to have are paying $350/month with increases every 6 months.

We donate $5/month via our Prime to PBS and get great shows/choices and a $60/year deduction.

How ever, this is too complicated or too much change for so many. They had rather bitch about the high costs of cable and bad programming. So don’t try it!

[Grampa Dave]

Amazing isn’t it?

” I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but you don’t have to watch them, you’re still paying for and supporting them.”

They had rather bitch, moan and send hundreds of $’s to our sworn enemies each month.

[adorno]

I have Comcast super basic (local channels) and internet. $70 a month for three TV's. I have built in Roku on my TV and between Pluto TV (free) and YouTube there is always something on to watch.

I had the same thing through Spectrum: 40 stations, including local, and the rest were junk. Was paying $68 per month. Made up for some of the other channels by using Netflix and Pluto and another similar service. Pluto is basically junk; unless they've improved in the last year. YouTube is a pay service, and the free stuff from it is not worth bothering with.

The way I keep my prices 'reasonable' is by threatening to quit, and if 'they' don't give me what I want, I switch to the other service (Frontier) for another year of lower prices. I would still prefer to pay nothing, but the 'nothing' services out there end up being worthless.