The thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. lost 148,876 net video subscribers in the third quarter.
Given gains in earlier quarters, that leaves the group down 105,000 for the year to date, according to Leichtman Research Group (LRG). The thirteen companies LRG tracks represent about 95 percent of the market. For all of 2014, the industry lost 45,000 customers.
The slow dribble of losses still don’t amount to more than a sliver of total pay TV subscribership. The top pay-TV providers account for 95.3 million subscribers. The splits by segment: the top nine cable companies have nearly 49.5 million video subscribers; satellite TV companies have over 34.2 million subscribers; the top telephone companies have 11.6 million subscribers.
The biggest losers were cable companies (down about 440,000 video subscribers in Q3, and satellite TV providers (down 40,000 customers in the quarter). The telcos won some of those subscribers, but not all; their total adds amounted to 330,000.
“The pay-TV industry is characterized by seasonality. While the first and second quarters of 2014 showed slight industrywide improvements over 2013, the third quarter was down from a year ago,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “If recent history is an indicator, the pay-TV industry will follow the fourth quarter trend, and close 2014 with a modest subscriber gain in the quarter.”
Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.
* Includes LRG estimates for Cox, and Bright House Networks
Net additions reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions
Company subscriber counts may not solely represent residential households
Top pay-TV providers represent approximately 95% of all subscribers
Top cable companies do not include overbuilder WOW with 653,800 subscribers following a small system sale
Note that LRG consumer research finds that about 1% of households subscribe to both cable and DBS
