LRG: U.S. Pay-TV Providers Shed Nearly 5 Million Subs in 2019

Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., representing about 95 percent of the market, lost about 4.9 million net video subscribers in 2019.

This compares to a pro forma loss of about 1.58 million subscribers in 2018. The top pay-TV providers account for 86.2 million subscribers—with the top seven cable companies having 45.8 million video subscribers, satellite TV services 25.4 million subscribers, the top telephone companies 8.3 million subscribers, and the top three publicly reporting internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services 6.7 million subscribers.

Satellite TV services lost about 3.7 million subscribers in 2019, compared to a net loss of about 2.36 million subscribers in 2018. The top seven cable companies lost about 1.56 million video subscribers in 2019, compared to a net loss of about 920,000 subscribers in 2018. The top telephone companies lost about 665,000 video subscribers in 2019, compared to a net loss of about 245,000 in 2018. The top publicly reporting vMVPD services—Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and AT&T TV NOW—added about 1.01 million subscribers in 2019, compared to about 1.94 million net adds in 2018.

“Overall, the top pay-TV providers lost 5.4 percent of subscribers in 2019 compared to a loss of 1.7 percent in 2018,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG. “The significant increase in pay-TV net losses in 2019 was both a function of consumers having more video options and the decisions by AT&T and other providers to increasingly focus on long-term profitability in acquiring and retaining subscribers.”