Major pay-TV providers lost about 1,925,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022

Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. – representing about 92% of the market – lost about 1,925,000 net video subscribers in 2Q 2022, compared to a pro forma net loss of 1,235,000 in 2Q 2021.

The top pay-TV providers now account for about 72.2 million subscribers – with the top seven cable companies having about 39.5 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having about 25.5 million subscribers, and the top publicly reporting Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services having about 7.2 million subscribers.

Key findings for the quarter include:

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 950,000 video subscribers in 2Q 2022 – compared to a loss of about 590,000 subscribers in 2Q 2021
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 710,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022 – compared to a loss of about 700,000 subscribers in 2Q 2021
• Top publicly reporting vMVPDs had a net loss of about 265,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022 – compared to a gain of about 55,000 subscribers in 2Q 2021

“The second quarter of 2022 marked the second consecutive quarter with over 1.9 million net pay-TV losses,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.  “Over the past year, top pay-TV providers had a net loss of about 5,425,000 subscribers, compared to a net loss of about 4,550,000 over the prior year.” BCS Bureau