Pay TV Services See Slight Dip In Video Subscribers

The biggest pay TV services shrank about a half percent in terms of their overall video subscribers in the second quarter of this year.

Thirteen of largest multichannel video providers in the U.S. -- about 94% of the market (94.6 million subscribers) -- lost about 345,000 net additional video subscribers in 2Q 2013 -- down 0.4%, according to the Durham, N.H.-based Leichtman Research Group.

Breaking down those pay TV services -- cable, satellite and telco companies -- shows that cable and satellite services declined, while telco continued to grow.

The top nine cable companies lost about 555,000 video subscribers in second-quarter 2013, compared to a loss of about 540,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2012.

Satellite TV companies slipped 162,000 subscribers, compared to a loss of 62,000 for the same time period a year ago. Although this is just the third time that DBS providers reported net quarterly losses, Leichtman says total satellite company net losses were the highest in any quarter since it began tracking the industry over a decade ago.

Telco companies grew 373,000 video subscribers versus 275,000 subscriber additions in the second quarter of 2012.

Looking at the top individual companies: Comcast dropped 159,000 subscribers to 21.8 million; Time Warner net losses were at 189,000 to land at 11.9 million. DirecTV was 84,000 smaller to 20.02 million; Dish Network gave back 78,000 to 14.01 million.

Telco companies' fortunes keep climbing, however. Verizon FiOS was up 140,00 during the period to 5.04 million, and AT&T U-verse grew 233,000 to 5.0 million.

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, stated: "The multichannel video industry has leveled off, with major providers losing about 0.1% of all subscribers over the past year.

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1 comment about "Pay TV Services See Slight Dip In Video Subscribers".
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  1. Bobby Campbell from Adkarma, August 20, 2013 at 11:03 a.m.

    I think we are seeing some warning tremors here

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