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Distressing Time for U.S. Pay-TV as Customer Churn Soars
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Research firm SNL Kagan recently reported that the second quarter of 2016 witnessed the highest ever quarterly subscriber loss in the history of the U.S. pay-TV industry. Notably, the U.S. pay-TV market comprises three kinds of service providers, namely, cable MSOs (multi-service operators), satellite TV operators and fiber-based telecom operators. SNL Kagan has estimated that in the last reported quarter, the pay-TV industry lost approximately 812,000 customers.
Despite such a difficult scenario, cable MSOs have a reason to rejoice as cable TV industry observed a narrower customer churn rate year over year. Notably, cable TV operators were most susceptible to the challenges arising from fiber-based TV and online video streaming services. The cable TV industry lost around 298,000 subscribers, down a considerable 13.6% year over year. The satellite TV operators lost about 26,000 customers. However, the biggest chunk of pay-TV customer loss came from telecom operators, which lost a massive 488,000 subscribers in the same time frame.
In the second-quarter 2016, AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) , one of the largest pay-TV operators in the world with 37.82 million TV customers, gained 342,000 TV customers in the U.S. through its satellite subsidiary DIRECTV. However, its U-verse telco TV service lost 391,000 customers. Meanwhile, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) saw its video customer base go down by 4,000, ending the period with 22.40 million TV subscribers. DISH Network Corp. , the satellite TV provider, lost 281,000 customers. Verizon Communications Inc.’s (VZ - Free Report) Fios TV subscribers fell by 1,226,000 largely due to the transfer of its customers to Frontier Communications Corp. . Nevertheless, organically, it lost 112,000 customers. Optimum and Suddenlink, owned by global cable giant Altice, lost 2,000 and 23,000 subscribers, respectively.
The availability of low-priced online video-streaming services is the reason behind this depressingl situation. Multichannel TV offering, the core business area of pay-TV operators, is steadily slipping out of their hands. In order to counter competition, attaining scale, productivity and effective cost management has become essential for pay-TV operators. Conversely, many core pay-TV operators have shifted their focus on delivering content through the Internet to counteract the churn rate. Notable among them are DISH Network, Verizon and Comcast to name a few.
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Distressing Time for U.S. Pay-TV as Customer Churn Soars
Research firm SNL Kagan recently reported that the second quarter of 2016 witnessed the highest ever quarterly subscriber loss in the history of the U.S. pay-TV industry. Notably, the U.S. pay-TV market comprises three kinds of service providers, namely, cable MSOs (multi-service operators), satellite TV operators and fiber-based telecom operators. SNL Kagan has estimated that in the last reported quarter, the pay-TV industry lost approximately 812,000 customers.
Despite such a difficult scenario, cable MSOs have a reason to rejoice as cable TV industry observed a narrower customer churn rate year over year. Notably, cable TV operators were most susceptible to the challenges arising from fiber-based TV and online video streaming services. The cable TV industry lost around 298,000 subscribers, down a considerable 13.6% year over year. The satellite TV operators lost about 26,000 customers. However, the biggest chunk of pay-TV customer loss came from telecom operators, which lost a massive 488,000 subscribers in the same time frame.
In the second-quarter 2016, AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) , one of the largest pay-TV operators in the world with 37.82 million TV customers, gained 342,000 TV customers in the U.S. through its satellite subsidiary DIRECTV. However, its U-verse telco TV service lost 391,000 customers. Meanwhile, Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) saw its video customer base go down by 4,000, ending the period with 22.40 million TV subscribers. DISH Network Corp. , the satellite TV provider, lost 281,000 customers. Verizon Communications Inc.’s (VZ - Free Report) Fios TV subscribers fell by 1,226,000 largely due to the transfer of its customers to Frontier Communications Corp. . Nevertheless, organically, it lost 112,000 customers. Optimum and Suddenlink, owned by global cable giant Altice, lost 2,000 and 23,000 subscribers, respectively.
The availability of low-priced online video-streaming services is the reason behind this depressingl situation. Multichannel TV offering, the core business area of pay-TV operators, is steadily slipping out of their hands. In order to counter competition, attaining scale, productivity and effective cost management has become essential for pay-TV operators. Conversely, many core pay-TV operators have shifted their focus on delivering content through the Internet to counteract the churn rate. Notable among them are DISH Network, Verizon and Comcast to name a few.
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Today you can gain access to long-term trades with double and triple-digit profit potential rarely available to the public. Starting now, you can look inside our stocks under $10, home run and value stock portfolios, plus more. Want a peek at this private information? Click here >>