• by Alex Weprin , May 18, 2018

On the surface, the numbers look stark. The number of households subscribed to a traditional cable, satellite or telco TV service fell by 0.8% in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the Q1 2018 U.S. Multichannel Subscriber Report by Kagan, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

And yet, there was a glimmer of hope for programmers, or even some video providers: streaming bundles. When the streaming services from Dish Network and DirecTV—Sling TV and DirecTV Now—are added into that mix, the number of subscriber losses is cut in half, adding nearly one million new households to the bundled universe.

Those numbers suggest that rather than seeing widespread cord-cutting, many consumers are instead cord-switching, trading the traditional video bundle for new bundles, delivered over the internet. When bundles from Hulu, YouTube and FuboTV are added to the mix, those numbers are likely to rise even higher.

Of course, it isn’t all good news. Many of these are “skinny” bundles, lacking key channels from some programmers, or even channels from entire companies.

Likewise, companies like DirecTV now find themselves competing with tech giants like YouTube and video startups with strong brand ID like Hulu, making securing and keeping subscribers even more of a challenge.

Still, the early success of these skinny bundles could serve as a lifeline for media companies and video providers concerned that young consumers were abandoning traditional TV for good.

Indeed, a report released by Nielsen this month found that among households with streaming devices, 93% still watched traditional TV, suggesting that the content offerings from traditional networks and traditional bundles still hold sway.

“As the average American now has more ways than ever to view content, the resilience of traditional programming is impressive in today’s digital age,” the report says. “Even the heaviest of streamers finds something to engage with on broadcast TV.”