Recently multiple smaller cable TV companies have recently shut down their TV services and have, in some cases, outsourced it to services like YouTube TV. Now according to Atlice USA, which operates under the brand Optimum, is looking at outsourcing its TV service in new markets.
Update: We have updated this story to clarify that Atlace is considering outsourcing its TV service in new markets at this time.
During this week’s earnings call Chief Executive Officer was asked about outsourcing their video business. “Anything is possible. So, we are looking at all of these options. As we build out into new build territories, we’re actively having conversations of should we build out video infrastructure, or should we be looking at partnering as some of our, as others have done? And so, those are all options that we’re looking at as we evolve the portfolio.” Dennis Mathew, Cheif Executive Officer, said during their earnings call this week.
Optimum is currently the 4th largest cable TV company in the United States, with 2.4 million subscribers. This puts it behind Comcast, Spectrum, and Cox as the 4th largest cable TV provider, according to the Leichtman Research Group. (Not counting satellite and fiber providers.)
Frontier has also recently stopped selling cable TV and instead now only offers YouTube TV to new customers. Sparklight Cable has also announced it will be shutting down its traditional TV service and going streaming only.
Increasingly many TV providers have started to look at TV and ask themselves if cable TV is worth the cost of the service.
2022 was not kind to cable TV companies as Comcast and Spectrum lost a combined 2.6 million TV customers in 2022. Now in 2023 that number is growing as Spectrum has already doubled its losses in the 1st quarter of 2023 vs that same period in 2022.
With numbers like that, you can see why some cable companies are looking for ways to ditch TV and focus on other areas like Internet.
In Comcast’s Q1 of 2023 earnings report released this week, Comcast reported it lost 614,000 video customer losses. That works out to be 6,800 subscribers Every Day.
Comcast saw traditional pay TV customers leave at a far faster rate in in the 1st quarter of 2023 vs the 4th quarter of 2023 when they lost 440,000 video customers. To help offset these losses, Comcast also reported adding 355,000 wireless customers.
Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, has once again lost 241,000 TV customers in the 1st quarter of 2023. The rate of cord cutting is once again speeding up in 2023, as in 2022, Spectrum only lost 112,000 TV customers during the same time. This means that the growth of cord cutting has more than doubled over the last year.
How long do you think it will be until more cable TV companies shut down their TV services and go streaming only?