Top U.S. pay-TV providers lost 5 million subscribers in 2023

Major Pay-TV Providers Lost About 5,000,000 Subscribers in 2023

DURHAM, NH — Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. – representing about 96% of the market – lost about 5,035,000 net video subscribers in 2023, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 4,590,000 in 2022.

The top pay-TV providers now account for about 71.3 million subscribers – with the top seven cable companies having about 34.1 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having 21 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services (including estimates for YouTube TV) having 16.2 million subscribers.

Key findings for the year include:

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 3,825,000 video subscribers in 2023 – compared to a loss of about 3,540,000 subscribers in 2022
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 3,105,000 subscribers in 2023 – compared to a loss of about 2,720,000 subscribers in 2022
• Top vMVPDs added about 1,895,000 subscribers in 2023 – compared to a gain of about 1,670,000 subscribers in 2022
• Traditional pay-TV services (not including vMVPD) had a net loss of about 6,930,000 subscribers in 2023 – compared to a net loss of about 6,260,000 in 2022

“The top pay-TV providers had a net loss of about 5 million subscribers in 2023, compared to a pro forma loss of about 4.6 million subscribers in 2022,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “At the end of 2023, top pay-TV providers had about 71.3 million subscribers, down from 91.5 million at the end of 2018.”

                                 Subscribers at     Net Adds
Pay-TV Providers                    End of 2023      in 2023
-------------------------------  --------------  -----------
Cable Companies
 Charter                             14,122,000  (1,025,000)
 Comcast                             14,106,000  (2,036,000)
 Altice                               2,262,000    (274,300)
 Breezeline                             280,145     (29,482)
 Cable One                              142,300     (39,200)
 Other major private companies*       3,140,000    (420,000)
Total Top Cable                      34,052,445  (3,823,982)

Other Traditional Services
 DIRECTV**                           11,300,000  (1,800,000)
 DISH TV (DBS)                        6,471,000    (945,000)
 Verizon Fios (Telco)                 3,012,000    (289,000)
 Frontier (Telco)^                      234,000     (72,000)
Total Top Other Traditional          21,017,000  (3,106,000)

Internet-Delivered (vMVPD)
 YouTube TV^^                         7,900,000    1,900,000
 Hulu + Live TV                       4,600,000      100,000
 Sling TV                             2,055,000    (279,000)
 Fubo                                 1,618,000      173,000
Total Top vMVPD                      16,173,000    1,894,000

Total Top Providers                  71,242,445  (5,035,982)

Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.
* Includes LRG estimates for Cox and Mediacom
** LRG estimate, includes DIRECTV, U-verse, and DIRECTV Stream
^ Includes LRG estimate for non-residential subscribers
^^ LRG revised estimate. On February 6, 2024 the company posted “we have more than 8 million subscribers to YouTube TV”
Company subscriber counts may not solely represent residential households
Top pay-TV providers represent approximately 96% of all subscribers

Net additions reflect pro forma results from system sales and acquisitions, reporting adjustments, and changes to the list of top providers – therefore, comparing totals in this release to prior releases will not produce accurate findings