Top Pay TV Operators Lost 150,000 Subscribers Last Quarter Tuesday Nov 18 2014 14:15 EDT The latest analysis of pay TV subscriber trends by the Leichtman Group indicates that the top pay TV operators collectively lost 150,000 subscribers during the third quarter. While many third quarters statistically see a boost in subscribers as kids return to school, this was the biggest loss in third quarter TV statistic history, notes the firm. As noted previously, it was the first quarter that DirecTV lost subscribers in the history of the company. Over the past year pay TV providers have lost 105,000 subscribers, compared to a loss of 45,000 the year before. Leichtman notes that the top nine cable companies lost about 440,000 video subscribers in 3Q 2014 -- compared to a loss of about 600,000 subscribers in the third quarter last year. Satellite TV providers lost 40,000 subscribers in 3Q 2014 -- compared to a gain of 174,000. They used to be immune from the phenomenon of cord cutting, but no longer. The top telephone providers added 330,000 video subscribers in 3Q 2014. While telcoTV operators have traditionally weathered the cord-cutting storm that's down from the 400,000 net additions during the third quarter last year. "The pay-TV industry is characterized by seasonality. While the first and second quarters of 2014 showed slight industrywide improvements over 2013, the third quarter was down from a year ago," states Bruce Leichtman, who has traditionally downplayed the cord-cutting phenomenon. "If recent history is an indicator, the pay-TV industry will follow the fourth quarter trend, and close 2014 with a modest subscriber gain in the quarter." |
 maartenaElmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
4 recommendations |
maartena
Premium Member
2014-Nov-18 3:11 pm
Not surprising...Even in a growing economy (and yes, the economy is finally growing again) there are plenty of people who are simply fed up with the high cost of subscription television. There are many streaming alternatives right now, and people want to watch media when it suits them, not when the TV tells you to. DVR's are often limited in space, and either do not allow, or have rather cumbersome, proprietary systems to allow viewing in other locations, such as while traveling in hotels and such.
Much of the content has changed over the last 5 years. History Channel has changed from a channel that actually showed history, to a channel showing rehearsed and scripted "reality" TV that only has a small historical value. BBC America used to show classic British shows, and now they are showing Star Trek: Next Generation just because its captain is a British national. News channels Fox News and MSNBC have become nothing more then channels providing opinionated, shouting heads spewing either right-wing or left-wing propaganda, and CNN is trying to keep up by sensationalizing news all the same. They are not "news" channels anymore, they are "opinion" channels. Quality series get cancelled after 1 or 2 seasons and replaced by cheap reality TV that does seem to score viewers.
Then there is sports. Sports is a MAJOR contributor to high cable bills. Here in the Los Angeles market there are 7 professional league teams, 2 MLB, 2 NBA, 2 NHA and 1 MLS (with a 2nd MLS coming in 2017 after Chivas failed). The TWC Sportsnet for the Lakers was sold to other distributors for around $4 per viewer. TWC is demanding a similar $4 figure for the Dodgers Sportsnet channel. The Angels signed a deal in 2010 that comes down to about $3 per viewer. All in all if you want to watch just ONE local team, you are paying $25-30 in costs to get all of them. (Plus PAC12 for USC and UCLA, ESPN, the national FOX and NBC sports networks....)
I was done in Feb 2014, after DirecTV raised my bill AGAIN by $5.... and cancelled it in lieu of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Enough already, I was paying $112 per month already with 3 receivers.
Now I pay $25 for Netflix, Amazon and a SmartDNS, and have an antenna on the roof for OTA TV. I will never go back to paid television, unless I hit the jackpot. | |
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