Cable TV Companies Could Lose Over 9.3 Million TV Subscribe in 2023 As Cord Cutting Accelerating


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Scissors cutting cord

The reports are in, showing cable television took a major hit in the first quarter of this fiscal year. As more people switch to streaming services, cable television is hemorrhaging subscribers at a rate never seen before. In the first three months of 2023, Comcast, Dish, and Spectrum lost 930,241 subscribers. That works out to be over 10,000 canceled subscribers every day for these three companies. Here’s a rundown of each network’s subscriber losses in Q1 (91 days) compared to the final quarter of 2022. 

In total, all cable TV and live TV providers lost 2.31 million subscribers in the first three months of 2023. That works out to over 25,600 Americans cutting the cord every day. If this trend continues, cable TV providers could lose 9.3 million subscribers in 2023. This comes from a report made by MoffettNathanson that tracks cable TV and streaming services.

DISH TV had 7.416 million subscribers at the end of 2022 and is now reporting 7.10 million, netting a loss of 316,000 members. That’s 3,473 customers per day, partly due to a security breach preventing the company from adding new customers for a long time during Q1. Additionally, DISH Wireless lost approximately 81,000 subscribers, a significant improvement from Q1’s reported loss of 343,000. Its reported net income in the first quarter of 2022 was $433 million – now it’s almost half, only totaling $223 million. 

Spectrum lost 241,000 customers in the first quarter of 2023, averaging 2,648 subscribers cutting the cable cord per day and costing the company approximately $4.3 billion in revenue. This is a considerable loss compared to the Q1 reports of 2022 stating a decrease of 112,000 customers. The company also lost 220,000 voice customers who deemed a traditional phone line archaic and switched to mobile only, however, Spectrum was able to sign up 686,000 new wireless customers in the final quarter of 2022. This likely helped its revenue increase to $13.7 billion, a 3.4 percent increase as well as internet revenue up by 4.9 percent.

Comast suffered massive losses as well, reporting 614,000 video customers no longer used their services or 6,737 every day. Compared to the 440,000 customers who bounced during the final quarter of 2022, that’s a significant increase that appears to be building up speed as the year continues. The company’s revenue decreased by 4.3 percent to just over $29 million this quarter. 

If these numbers continue, Comcast, Spectrum, and Dish are on track to lose over 3.7 million subscribers this year.

As more people see the value in utilizing streaming platforms over traditional cable contracts, services like Peacock are reaping the benefits, gaining 22 million new subscribers this first quarter. That’s up 60% from last year, increasing revenue by an impressive 45 percent totaling $685 million. 

While we wait to see what the second quarter of 2023 holds for the future of cable television, let us know: Are you on team cable or ready to cut the cord?

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