Cord Cutting vs. Cable Stats: Pay TV Industry Sees Worst 1st Quarter As More than 750,000 Flee
MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett estimates the pay-TV industry had its worst first quarter ever after losing 762,000 customers in the first three months of this year, shrinking the industry by 1.3 percent to 2.4 percent, Recode reported Wednesday.
Moffett said it was the industry's worst first quarter ever.
Years ago, Moffet and other analysts blamed the recession and a bad real estate market for reducing the number of subscribers. However, the housing industry is doing better, which means it doesn’t explain why people are cutting the cord.
When including the people who should have subscribed to pay TV when moving into their new homes, Moffett estimates “nearly a million homes either cut the cord or chose not to take one in the first place in Q1.”
Customers Ditch Cable Companies
Just to show how the industry is doing:
Charter Communications reported losing 100,000 net residential pay-TV subscribers in the first quarter. Dish Network reported a net loss of 143,000 subscribers, more than six times the estimated 23,000 customer losses reported in the first quarter of 2016. AT&T saw cable subscribers decline in the first quarter while DirecTV Now subscribers remained flat.
“Identifying the root cause of the acceleration in cord-cutting isn’t hard,” Moffett explained. “It’s not demand [the demand has always been there]. It is supply. Would-be cord-cutters and cord-nevers are finally being given options.”
Those options include Netflix, HBO Now and skinny bundles, such as Sling TV. The numbers come as live TV streaming services, such as YouTube TV and Hulu’s live TV plan debuted this year.
Hulu launched its service Wednesday after making deals with 21st Century Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, Turner Networks, A+E Networks and Scripps Networks. The live TV service will be priced at $39.99 and will include more than 50 channels, as well as Hulu’s premium streaming service, original series and films. YouTube TV launched last month in select U.S. cities for $39.99, the same price as Hulu. The plan includes Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and FXX, as well as ESPN, SEC Network, the Big Ten Network and other networks.
Read: Comcast Live TV: Xfinity Streaming Cable Service To Launch For Cord-Cutters
Other companies seem to be exploring TV streaming bundles, including Apple, which is reportedly looking to sell a premium TV plan that would include Showtime, HBO and Starz. Even Twitter is breaking its way into the live TV business. The social media platform announced it partnered with Bloomberg TV for news content on Twitter. The company also announced partnerships including BuzzFeed, Live Nation and the WNBA. Meanwhile, Comcast is set to launch its streaming service Xfinity Instant TV in the third quarter of this year, offering packages that cost $15 to $40 per month
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