Cable TV loses more than a million subscribers, according to a report

By Nick Santangelo

Cable and satellite TV providers lost 1.1 million subscribers between July and September, the largest quarterly loss ever recorded, according to MoffettNathanson, a media research firm.

According to USA Today, Dish alone recorded a net loss of EUR 341,000 (of which 367,000 in total are slightly offset by 26,000 additions to Sling TV), a dramatic increase from the 16,000 lost in the same quarter in 2017. DirectTV AT & T was not far behind. with a net loss of 297,000. All combined satellite providers dropped by 726,000 subscribers.

Cable TV providers lost approximately 293,000 subscribers in the quarter. Comcast was the biggest loser on the cable side, with 106,000 subscribers lost, but the telecommunications giant has made up for this delay with 363,000 new broadband subscribers. Cable operators' losses, however, seem rather encouraging considering that they have lost 322,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2017.

Rich Greenfield, Media and Technology Analyst at BTIG tweeted that the third quarter of 2018 was "the third worst quarter in the history of the industry and the worst since the second quarter of 2016".

About 78% of US households are now subscribing to one type of pay television service, down 8% from 2013.

The report indicates that new homes were created at a rate of "249,000 homes per quarter faster than a year ago", which should represent "about 200,000 additional subscribers per quarter on average". Rather, things tend to move in the opposite direction, frustrating analysts' optimism after the second quarter of 2018, normally a slowdown, during which cable and satellite providers recorded their smallest losses in the first quarter. second quarter in four years.

"The cut of the cord does not seem to slow down at all," reads the report by Moffett Nathanson.

In July, research firm eMarketer predicted that cable and satellite would lose 33 million customers by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Netflix would spend all Hollywood studios this year after surpassing HBO in Emmy nominations.

Nick Santangelo is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He loves video games and sports, but not video games. Follow on Twitter.