Kagan Releases Third Quarter U.S. Multichannel Subscriber Report

For the first time, U.S. pay TV subscriber losses top symbolic 1-million threshold in third quarter

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S&P Global Market Intelligence

Nov 16, 2017, 10:55 ET

MONTEREY, Calif., Nov. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Legacy multichannel customer defections accelerated in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2017, coming in just shy of the 1.2-million mark to bring year-to-date losses to 2.9 million according to data compiled by Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The combined cable, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) and telecommunications multichannel subscriptions fell to 94.9 million at the end of the period, including 91.7 million residential customers, for a 74.8% residential multichannel penetration.

Additional takeaways from Kagan's Q3 U.S. Multichannel Subscriber report:  

  • Cable operators lost approx. 801,000 total video customers. In the first nine months of 2017, total losses were up 114% over the same interval in 2016.
  • The telco platform logged its ninth consecutive quarter of video customer erosion, with losses coming in at approx. 184,000. AT&T's emphasis on DIRECTV NOW is weighing heavily on the company's legacy multichannel products, including U-verse, which accounted for 73.5% of the sector decline during the period.
  • Traditional satellite services were down an aggregate approx. 618,000 subscribers, accounting for 53% of the universe's losses.
  • Adding the top two virtual service providers (VSPs) affiliated with legacy multichannel distributors –DISH Network's Sling TV and AT&T's DIRECTV NOW – reduces the sector's calculated quarterly losses to approx. 635,000.

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SOURCE S&P Global Market Intelligence