Top traditional pay TV providers in the U.S. market continued to bleed subscribers in the second quarter of 2023 as TV viewers increasingly cut the cord and opt for streaming platforms.
The biggest pay TV providers lost a total of 1.73 million net video subscribers during the three-month period, compared to a pro forma loss of about 1.72 million net subscribers in the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest statistics from Leichtman Research Group.
Cable providers fared worst as they lost 925,000 video subscribers during the second quarter, against a reduction of about 950,000 subscribers in the same period last year. Comcast had the biggest losses, as 543,000 video customers signed off during the second quarter, while Charter Communications said goodbye to another 200,000 subscribers.
The top U.S. pay TV providers account for around 71.9 million subscribers, with the top seven cable companies having 35.9 million video subscribers, according to Leichtman data, while other traditional pay TV services have around 22.7 million subscribers, and the top internet-delivered pay TV services like YouTube TV, also known as vMVPDs, have 13.4 million subscribers.
It’s not all clear sailing for the vMVPDs, which had a net loss of about 115,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, compared to a loss of about 65,000 subscribers in the year-ago period. In the last 12 months, Leichtman Research estimates top pay TV providers lost about 5.3 million subscribers, compared to a net loss of about 4.23 million in the prior-year period.
As the major studios and other traditional media continue to pivot to streaming, the losses for legacy linear TV networks from cord-cutting were always expected. But with media giants like Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney having to make increasing investments in their streaming platforms as Wall Street questions when they will become profitable, questions over the future of linear TV grow.
As streaming platform growth slows, Macquarie media analyst Tim Nollen sees linear TV networks having passed the point of no return. “We think the metrics for linear TV are all bad. The public pay TV operators (cable, telco, satellite) that we track reported a weighted average 9.6 percent drop year-on-year in subscribers, and the media network groups’ affiliate fee revenues were down 2.5 percent,” Nollen said in an Aug. 14 investors note.
Even price increases won’t help recover ground for traditional pay TV providers, he added, as advertising revenues continue to come under pressure, not least as the continuing Hollywood actors and writers strike threatens deliveries and releases of TV series.
Subscriber Loss or Gain in Q2 2023
Comcast: -543,000
DirecTV: -400,000
Charter: -200,000
Dish TV: -197,000
FuboTV: -118,000
Hulu + Live TV: -100,000
Sling TV: -97,000
Altice: -69,900
YouTube TV: +200,000
Source: Leichtman Research Group and the companies.
 - Shopify)