Cable Losing Market Share to TelcoTV, Internet Video With 759 Million Pay TV Subscriptions by Year End Friday May 20 2011 09:11 EDT The latest data from new data from ABI Research shows that while overall pay TV services continue to grow, traditional cable TV companies continue to lose market share in many markets due to both telco TV (U-Verse TV and FiOS TV, predominately) and Internet video. TV subscriptions dropped from 72% in 2009 to 69% in 2010, with cable providers in North America and Western Europe taking the greatest hits, according to the firm. About 11.3 million pay-TV subscribers were added at the end of first quarter, and the firm expects that the total number of pay-TV subscriptions will exceed 759 million by the end of this year. |
  SpaethCoDigital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN |
It's not just TelcoTVThe satellite companies are showing growth as well, with DirecTV posting up the better numbers. 
I would imagine most of the loss would be in the area of subscribers seeking additional HD channels, which is where most of the legacy cable companies have been falling behind.
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|  |  cdruGo Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN |
cdru
MVM
2011-May-20 10:11 am
Re: It's not just TelcoTVsaid by SpaethCo:I would imagine most of the loss would be in the area of subscribers seeking additional HD channels, which is where most of the legacy cable companies have been falling behind.
Or just people realizing that they are paying $80 for a half dozen channels that they watch on a regular basis. | |
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Re: It's not just TelcoTVsaid by cdru:said by SpaethCo:I would imagine most of the loss would be in the area of subscribers seeking additional HD channels, which is where most of the legacy cable companies have been falling behind.
Or just people realizing that they are paying $80 for a half dozen channels that they watch on a regular basis. I happen to agree with you 100%!!! | |
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Re: It's not just TelcoTVsaid by DaveSin:said by cdru:said by SpaethCo:I would imagine most of the loss would be in the area of subscribers seeking additional HD channels, which is where most of the legacy cable companies have been falling behind.
Or just people realizing that they are paying $80 for a half dozen channels that they watch on a regular basis. I happen to agree with you 100%!!! Yup. Me too. | |
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Telco TV is the big factor hereTelco TV is basically just another cable company with lower prices and better offerings. It shows that the traditional cable model isn't eroding as quickly as some would like you to believe. In the end it all boils down to price and selection. | |
| | 45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY |
45612019 (banned)
Member
2011-May-20 6:27 pm
Re: Telco TV is the big factor hereMaybe FiOS... that's a great deal. But AT&T's U-verse TV is just garbage. Atrocious picture quality that's worse than YouTube and Netflix and it's the same price as cable after the first six months are up.
The fact that it's completely proprietary and can't be used with CableCARD products like TiVo or PC tuner cards further damages the "quality" of the product. FiOS is compatible with CableCARDs. | |
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 Metatron2008You're it
Premium Member
join:2008-09-02
united state |
It might be because Directv and Fios have actual quality hd?You think that might be the case? A large selection of channels with good quality=win win.
If they are leaving for Uverse 'HD', its because they are blind and want a better channel selection then cable... | |
| | |  DavePR
join:2008-06-04
Canyon Country, CA |
DavePR
Member
2011-May-20 11:03 am
Re: Internet video, a different slantInteresting spin. It says that one out of 6 customers are lcutting the cable (twisted pair, dish, fibre). Hardly an insignificant figure. It's millions of homes every quarter. | |
| | | SpaethCoDigital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN |
Re: Internet video, a different slantsaid by DavePR:Interesting spin. It says that one out of 6 customers are lcutting the cable (twisted pair, dish, fibre). Hardly an insignificant figure. It's millions of homes every quarter. Where are you getting 1 in 6? I believe the number would be closer to 1 in 17. One quarter, or 25%, said that in the past 12 months they have subscribed to a new cable or satellite service. Some 15% upgraded to a higher-tier service, 16% added a premium channel, 18% added HD service and 14% added a DVR or an additional receiver. On the flip side, just 7% said they downgraded their service to a lower tier, 7% dropped premium channels, and only 6% dropped service outright. The online survey polled 1,000 representative respondents in early April. Being an online survey, this plays directly into the segment of the population most likely to be able to cut the cord. I'm actually a little surprised the number of folks reporting they "cut the cord" wasn't higher given the demographic. | |
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laryx
Anon
2011-May-20 10:42 am
Who is the real threat?Cable may be losing market share to TelcoTV but it cannot be considered a huge threat when TelcoTV is only available to a fraction of the homes in this country.
Satellite, especially DirecTV, continues to be a larger threat. | |
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Left cable TVI left Cox for DirecTV last week. The price hikes were just not justifiable, I was paying more (much more) for less; less channels, less HD quality, worse equipment, and far worse guide. Couldn't be happier that I made the switch.
Cable TV has to realize they're going to have to invest in next generation technology if they want to keep up. 10 year old STB's running 15 year old guide software, displaying highly overcompressed HD, for more money just isn't cutting it for people. | |
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Re: Left cable TVsaid by BillRoland:I left Cox for DirecTV last week. The price hikes were just not justifiable, I was paying more (much more) for less; less channels, less HD quality, worse equipment, and far worse guide. Couldn't be happier that I made the switch.
Cable TV has to realize they're going to have to invest in next generation technology if they want to keep up. 10 year old STB's running 15 year old guide software, displaying highly overcompressed HD, for more money just isn't cutting it for people.
Funny, I did the opposite. I'm not a heavy TV viewer so I jump between sat and cable all the time depending on price and price alone. For internet I have TWC that beats uverse hands down. While I was a Directv customer TWC called me and offered me a very good permanent deal (not 1 year contract) and I decided to go back to TWC. The picture quality is much better than directv, old STBs and guide? yes they are but I don't care. The cable industry is moving so fast that many of the lost customers will be back to cable especially if prices go down. Good thing is that the days of the STB are numbered » www.lightreading.com/doc ··· r_cable& | |
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Re: Left cable TVsaid by etaadmin:...
While I was a Directv customer TWC called me and offered me a very good permanent deal (not 1 year contract) and I decided to go back to TWC.
Would you mind sharing with us the details of the permanent deal that you received? | |
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| fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
to BillRoland
Really? The guide is that important? .. the guide, for me, represents about 1% of my entire video use... half the time I simply change the channel.. I could care less about the guide. In the end it's about price and PQ... the argument about the guide is about as exciting as watching water boil. | |
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 GuspazGuspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC |
Guspaz
MVM
2011-May-20 5:17 pm
Not everywhereWe haven't been seeing this same trend in Quebec, where the local cableco controls the majority of the market, especially for Internet.
Of course, a large part of this might be that Videotron (the cableco) is seen as a Québecois company while Bell is not, despite the fact that both companies are headquartered in Montreal. | |
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JohnW3
Member
2011-May-21 12:54 am
it's all in the matter of location unfortuantelyI have Cox Cable for my TV and HSI. Where I live can't be beat in price and TV selection more than enough for my needs. For one I have only one internet choice in my neighborhood and if I did have a bundle with Verizon's DirectTV and the slow and outdated DSL service it still wouldn't beat Cox in price... not by a longshot.
Verizon Fios in Roanoke, VA forget about it. Never happen.
Personally I like the HDTV and SDTV picture quality with Cox BETTER than satellite as well. Especially the SDTV every sat pic I have seen flat out sucks. | |
| | Cobra11M
join:2010-12-23
Mineral Wells, TX |
Re: it's all in the matter of location unfortuantelycox in general is a pretty good cable company, comcast ha its funny im not surprised neither am i surprised that time warner is looseing to..
hint, caps are in or goin in place on these cable companys, i wish my area was still under cox, but its suddenlink now, with the meters in place im waiting to see if they will impose it or not, they have said thats not there current plan..
But we will see, but in all if suddenlink does, guess what im switchin to direct tv, and might keep there internet. We will def switch tv service's, If they worry about cord cutting I will def show them what cord cutting is, and im sure america its self will to as shown in the graphs, people are gonna still want tv service but when you put caps on there internet then they switch tv service providers to get back at ya | |
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Cable TV is a jokeI called up my local cable TV provider to try and get a deal on what I had because my contract was up (just to see what they would offer me) and they wouldn't even bother to try to negotiate. I asked them how do you plan to compete? The lady told me: "We just rely on our loyal customers." I said in this economy good luck. I'm sure Dish and DTV and the rest are going to take most of your customers because she quoted me about double for what I'm paying now. They run specials, but most of them are crap and it's losing them customers left and right. I don't see why they don't get that and try to compete with proper pricing. Doesn't make any sense why they'd rather just let a bunch of people go and continue the rate hikes. Are they trying to fail? Makes me wonder sometimes... | |
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