Major U.S. pay TV providers lose 300k subscribers in 2Q 2014

Major Pay-TV providers lose about 300,000 subscribers in 2Q 2014

DURHAM, NH — Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the US — representing about 95% of the market — lost about 300,000 net video subscribers in 2Q 2014, compared to a loss of about 350,000 video subscribers in 2Q 2013.

The top pay-TV providers account for nearly 95.5 million subscribers — with the top nine cable companies having 49.9 million video subscribers, satellite TV companies having 34.3 million subscribers, and the top telephone companies having about 11.3 million subscribers.

Other key findings for the quarter include:

• The top nine cable companies lost about 510,000 video subscribers in 2Q 2014 — the fewest losses in any second quarter since 2Q 2009
• Cable ONE lost 6.5% of all cable subscribers in 2Q 2014 — the highest percentage of losses in one quarter by any top provider in the past decade
• Satellite TV providers lost 78,000 subscribers in 2Q 2014 — compared to a loss of 162,000 in 2Q 2013
• The top telephone providers added 290,000 video subscribers in 2Q 2014 — compared to 373,000 net additions in 2Q 2013

“The top pay-TV providers lost about 300,000 subscribers in the traditionally weak second quarter, but cumulative net losses in 2Q 2014 were slightly fewer than in any second quarter since 2Q 2010,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Over the past year, the top pay-TV providers actually had a small net gain of about 20,000 subscribers, compared to a cumulative net loss of about 70,000 subscribers over the prior year.”

                                       Subscribers at  Net Adds in
Pay-TV Providers                       End of 2Q 2014      2Q 2014
-------------------------------------  --------------  -----------
Cable Companies
 Comcast                                   22,457,000    (114,000)
 Time Warner                               11,212,000    (147,000)
 Charter                                    4,320,000     (35,000)
 Cablevision                                2,771,000     (28,000)
 Suddenlink                                 1,168,800     (18,700)
 Mediacom                                     919,000     (18,000)
 Cable ONE                                    490,309     (34,254)
 Other Major Private Cable Companies*       6,570,000     (85,000)
  Total Top Cable                          49,908,109    (509,954)

Satellite TV Companies (DBS)
 DIRECTV                                   20,231,000     (34,000)
 DISH                                      14,053,000     (44,000)
  Total DBS                                34,284,000     (78,000)

Telephone Companies
 AT&T U-verse                               5,851,000     190,000
 Verizon FiOS                               5,419,000     100,000
  Total Top Phone                          11,270,000     290,000

-------------------------------------  --------------  -----------
Total Top Pay-TV Providers                 95,462,109    (297,954)

Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.
* Includes LRG estimates for Cox and Bright House Networks
Net additions reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions
Company subscriber counts may not solely represent residential households
Top pay-TV providers represent approximately 95% of all subscribers
Top cable companies do not include overbuilder WOW with 699,000 subscribers
Note that LRG consumer research finds that about 1% of households subscribe to both cable and DBS