Leading U.S. Pay-TV Providers Lost 1.7 Million Subs in Q2

The largest pay-TV providers in the U.S.—accounting for some 96 percent of the overall market—lost 1.73 million net video subs in the second quarter of this year, up slightly from 1.725 million in the same period last year, according to Leichtman Research Group.

The leading pay operators in the U.S. service almost 72 million subscribers, with 35.9 million at the top cable companies, 22.7 million at other traditional pay providers and 13.4 million using vMVPD services.

In Q2, top cable operators shed 925,000 subs, down from last year’s 950,000, while other traditional pay services lost 690,000, down from 710,000 last year. The losses to the overall market were incurred at the top vMVPDs, which shed 115,000 subs, as compared with 65,000 in the same period last year.

“Pay-TV net losses of about 1.73 million in 2Q 2023 were similar to the losses in last year’s second quarter,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group. “Over the past year, top pay-TV providers had a net loss of about 5.36 million subscribers, compared to a net loss of about 4.235 million over the prior year.”

Comcast remains the leading platform with 14.98 million customers, ahead of Charter’s 14.7 million, with DIRECTV at 12.35 million. In terms of vMVPD providers, YouTube TV leads with just under 6 million subs, while Hulu + Live TV is at 4.3 million.