• by Wayne Friedman , December 2, 2019

Sports TV viewers who get their TV packages via cable, satellite or telco will be key for pay TV in the future.

Looking at the current total of 93.4 million pay TV homes (traditional and virtual), a new study says 60% of TV subscribers that regularly watch sports will be the “floor” of where the pay TV industry might be in five years.

“That leaves 40% of today’s pay TV universe at risk,” according to Michael Nathanson, senior research analyst, MoffettNathanson.

Even then, Nathanson says, this only exists “as long as the major sports leagues’ rights remain exclusive to the pay TV bundle.” The research comes from Altman Vilandrie & Company, with MoffetNathanson Research.

In detail, it shows 48 million TV households (51%) that have regular sports and news viewers, with 24.4 million regular news-only homes (26%) and 9.2 million regular sports and news-only households (9%).

Of the 93.4 million pay TV homes, there are a total of 80.5 million households that watch news and sports (86%) and 13 million homes that have non-sports and news viewers (14%).

Nathanson notes this only exists “as long as the major sports leagues’ rights remain exclusive to the pay TV bundle.”