Spectrum, over the weekend, talked big about being willing to walk away from cable TV and just offer bundles of streaming services. Now, according to a new report, this is no empty threat and Spectrum.
According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, Spectrum and Disney’s last renewal in 2019 came close to ending Spectrum’s TV business. According to the report, Spectrum came close to walking away from cable TV, shutting it all down and focusing on its internet business back in 2019.
This comes as a growing number of cable TV businesses are deciding that TV is not just worth it. WOW! most noticeably recently decided to partner with YouTube TV to replace its cable TV. This comes as a growing number of cable TV executives have been saying TV is just not profitable both in private and increasingly in public.
2023 has not been kind to cable TV companies like Comcast, DIRECTV, and Spectrum. In just the first half of 2023, cable TV companies have lost over 2,748,000 TV subscribers. Not only that but the hope that most cord cutters would switch to live TV streaming services doesn’t seem to be paying out as live TV services like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo also lost 509,000 subscribers during the same time period.
In the 1st quarter of 2023, cable TV companies lost 1,135,143 subscribers. In the 2nd quarter of 2023, cable TV companies lost 1,613,532. In the 1st quarter of 2023, streaming live TV services lost 394,000, and in the 2nd quarter, they lost 115,000 all according to The Leitchman Research Group, which includes estimates on DIRECTV and YouTube TV.
This comes as increasingly Americans are deciding that on-demand only services are all they need. Why pay for live TV at $70+ a month fo most services when an on-demand service can start at around $10 a month. This has left many to pick the cheaper on-demand options.
So will Spectrum follow through and walk away from Disney and maybe its cable TV service? We will have to wait and see what happens but reports are saying that Spectrum is not bluffing with its threats to Disney.