Q3 ended the worst 12-month period for pay-TV companies in the U.S., with companies losing more than 600,000 subscribers.

But, according to a study by Wall Street analyst firm MoffettNathanson, the cord cutting trend is slowing, as subscribers left their cable companies at a rate slower than projected from 2012 (about 100,000 in the third quarter of 2013).

In what could turn out to be a negative outlook for the cable sector, pay-TV revenue increased 5% as subscribers have walked away, which the analysts signaled to mean that lower-income customers are being priced out of the market.

Cable providers DIRECTV and Dish Network reported gains in the third quarter, with AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS also adding subscribers, while Time Warner Cable lost a number of video customers this year (analysts point to its dispute with CBS as the main reason).

Cable operators are also now responding to the steadily growing number of cord cutters with indifference, according to the report. Some are no longer fighting to retain subscribers who threaten to leave because of rising costs, with providers like Cablevision saying that they won’t offer price discounts anymore in order to keep customers.

Read more at Variety.

Brief Take: Cord cutting will continue to be an issue that plagues the pay-TV community, but the numbers are beginning to stabilize, signaling a shift in cable providers’ subscriber bases and priorities.

Tags:


  Save as PDF