People are cutting the cord to cable at impressively high rates, setting a new record for those severing ties with cable providers. Streaming services are growing alongside this trend, although even some popular television streaming platforms are seeing a decline in subscribers. Pay television subscribers fell 7 percent on an annual basis by the end of this year’s first quarter.
Regarding the pay television business, senior research analyst for MoffettNathanson Craig Moffett said, “We are watching the sun beginning to set,” as it reached the lowest number of users since 1992, dropping to 58.5 percent. He went on to venture “The picture is not one that suggests a plateau in the rate of decline is coming any time soon.”
The biggest cable providers lost around 2,215,000 subscribers, up significantly from the 1,850,000 members who canceled services in the first quarter of 2022. The losses are a result of a combination of an increased number of customers disconnected and a decline in the number of new subscribers.
Comcast lost around 614,000 subscribers, Charter lost 241,000, Altice lost 60,500, Breezeline lost 8,943, and Cable One lost 14,500 members. Other major private pay-TV providers combined lost 120,000 users. DIRECTV lost 350,000 subscribers, DISH TV lost 318,000, Verizon FiOS lost 76,000, and Frontier lost 18,000 subscribers.
Three of the top four internet-delivered platforms also took a historically high hit, but not nearly as many subscribers left as in the same quarter of the previous year. Hulu+ Live TV lost 100,000 subscribers, Sling TV lost 234,000, and Fubo lost 160,000. YouTube was the only streaming platform to gain subscribers, totaling 100,000 new members in this quarter, which is impressive as it recently increased pricing for premium memberships.
Check back with Cord Cutters News for an update on the number of subscriber losses and gains at the end of the next quarter.