Cord Cutting is growing faster than ever as the number of Americans paying for cable TV has dropped to its lowest levels since the early 1990s. Now the 2nd quarter of 2023 has not been nice to live TV companies as the Leichtman Research Group reports that over 1.727 million Americans canceled live TV in just three months.
Now it is not just cable TV companies losing TV customers live TV streaming services like Hulu, Fubo, and Sling TV have all reported losing subscribers. This comes as increasingly cord cutters are switching to on-demand-only services and are happily not watching shows live.
According to the Leichtman Research Group, only one live TV service added was YouTube TV as it reportedly grew by 200,000 subscribers in the 2nd quarter of 2023. This comes as YouTube TV has recently become the new home of the NFL Sunday Ticket helping it attract new subscribers. YouTube TV has also started a massive advertising push related to NFL Sunday Ticket that has likely helped it attract new subscribers.
Traditional TV providers have been losing subscribers recently, including DIRECTV, reportedly losing 400,000, according to the Leichtman Research Group. Other cable TV losses include Comcast losing 543,000, Spectrum losing 189,000, DISH 294,000, Verizon 69,000, and Altice USA 68,300. The total of this is 1,163,300 lost subscribers in just three months for the five largest cable TV companies.
Live TV streaming services have also been losing subscribers, including Hulu + Live TV losing 100,000 subscribers, Sling TV losing 97,000, and Fubo losing 118,000 subscribers during the 2nd quarter of 2023.
YouTube TV was reportedly also the only live TV service to add subscribers in the 1st quarter of 2023.
Increasing a growing number of cord cutters are ditching cable TV but not replacing it with a live TV streaming service. Just a few years ago, many cable executives expected to see most cord cutters replace cable TV with similar live TV streaming services. Now though, most cord cutters have opted for cheaper on-demand only options vs more expensive live TV services like Sling TV and Fubo.