2023 has been a year of solid growth for cord cutting as major cable TV companies have been hit hard. So far, Comcast has been hit the hardest and has seen its TV subscriber numbers drop by over 1.15 million in the first half of 2023.
This comes as Comcast lost 614,000 subscribers in the 1st quarter of 2023 and 543,000 subscribers in the 2nd quarter of 2023. Traditionally 1st, quarter numbers are often larger than send quarter as Americans look to save money with the new year.
Comcast is not alone in losing subscribers, but it seems to be one of the hardest hit. During the same period, Spectrum lost 441,000 subscribers, DISH lost 515,000, and DIRECTV reportedly lost 750,000. (Note DIRECTV numbers are not official but reported by the Leichtman Research Group.)
So far, YouTube TV is reportedly the only live TV service to add subscribers in 2023. It is also being reported that YouTube TV is now larger than many cable TV companies. Sadly Google does not release official numbers, but according to LightShed Partners, it now has 6.6 million subscribers. This makes Google the 5th largest live TV provider in the United States, and it may soon be the 4th largest.
According to a report by LightShed Partners, YouTube TV is expected to add 2 to 3 million new subscribers thanks to the addition of the NFL Sunday Ticket. This would make YouTube TV the 4th largest live TV provider in the united states, just behind DIRECTV, Spectrum, and Comcast.
Subscribers may be down, but Comcast says its revenues went up to $30.5 billion in the 2nd quarter, a 1.7% year-over-year increase. With that, its domestic broadband revenue was up 4.4%, and Xfinity Mobile revenue was up 20% in the 2nd quarter of 2023.
If this trend continues, Comcast could lose over 2 million subscribers in 2023 and could see the biggest drop of any cable TV company in 2023.