Virtual multichannel projected to top 15 million subscribers

Pressure is on for traditional services with skinny bundles, says Kagan U.S. Multichannel Forecast

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Jun 22, 2018, 01:49 ET

MONTEREY, Calif., June 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The increasing popularity of virtual multichannel services along with the staying power of traditional, big-subscription packages are still expected to account for more than 70% of households through 2022, according to the latest forecast from Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. However, cord cutting is projected to reduce the overall number of households with a subscription to live linear channels in the near-term outlook.

Consumer appetites for traditional multichannel packages are waning, driving expectations for a contraction in the number of households in the U.S. with a classic cable, telco or satellite video offering. While skinny bundles from so-called virtual multichannel platforms are tapping into the demand to downsize the traditional "cable" bill, growth in self-aggregating, online-only households, as well as homes that rely on antennas for over-the-air (OTA) reception, are expected to pressure take rates.

Key takeaways from Kagan's latest Multichannel household forecast through 2022:

Traditional residential multichannel households, excluding commercial and dual-subscription households, projected to decrease by 14.3 million to 75.4 million.
Virtual Multichannel households projected to increase by 10.6 million to 15.3 million.
Combined traditional and virtual multichannel households projected to decrease by 3.7 million to 90.4 million.
Online Video Only households projected to increase by 6 million to 18.2 million.
Over-the-air households, excluding antenna-equipped multichannel subs, projected to increase 3.1 million to 19.1 million.

To access to the full report, please reach out to [email protected].

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SOURCE S&P Global Market Intelligence