Kagan: U.S. Pay-TV Subscriber Losses Just Under 1 Million Mark

In the second quarter of 2017, the U.S. multichannel universe lost a record number of customers, 976,000 pay-TV subs, according to new data from Kagan.

Cable operators lost 246,000 total video customers. Following the sizable Q1 drop, total losses at the mid-year mark are up 55.6 percent annually. Traditional satellite services took a hit in the second quarter, reporting an estimated net loss of 443,000 subscriptions, taking the base below the 33 million mark for the first time since 2010.

Total traditional video subs on the telco platform dropped to 10.9 million, down 10.9 percent annually. Based on figures compiled from U.S. Census reports, an estimated 75.8 percent of the potential residential universe subscribe to a legacy multichannel product in the second-quarter.

Overall, traditional multichannel subscriptions dropped below 96.1 million in Q2, down 1.8 million since year-end 2016. Adding the top two virtual service providers (VSPs) affiliated with legacy multichannel distributors—DISH Network’s Sling TV and AT&T’s DIRECTV NOW—lifts the combined total subscriptions to a package of live linear channels and on-demand content to 98 million.