Did Comcast just slip to become the no. 2 U.S. Pay TV Operator?

After losing 2.036 million linear video customers in 2023, and 389,000 in the fourth quarter, Comcast’s reign as the No. 1 pay TV operator in America is very much up in the air.

Comcast ended 2023 with 14.106 million Xfinity TV customers after losing 12.6% of its base in 12 months. Charter Communications ended Q3 with 14.379 million Spectrum TV clients and reports its earnings next Friday.

Will Charter report a loss of 273,000 or more video subscribers when it delivers its Q4 report on Feb. 2?

Charter uncharacteristically lost 327,000 pay TV customers in a third quarter marred by a high-profile, two-week distribution standoff with Disney, during which it was redirecting angry football fans to YouTube TV since ESPN and ABC were temporarily taken off Spectrum. But beyond the last quarter, Charter’s video losses have typically been less than the broader pay TV industry.

In a sense, it’s an anachronistic discussion, with Comcast and Charter teamed up on a new IP-centric video joint venture, Xumo, and slowly pivoting away from the traditional linear video bundle.

Still, dating back to its mega $72 billion merger with AT&T Broadband back in December 2001, Comcast has been No. 1 in video … or close to it.

As research maven Bruce Leichtman noted for us, AT&T (the ongoing phone company concern) ranked No. 1 from the third quarter of 2015 through the third quarter of 2019, before DirecTV began its serious erosion and was subsequently spun off the telecom.

In fact, up until about a decade ago, when it was surpassed by China’s Jiangsu Broadcasting Cable Information Network, Philadelphia-based Comcast was the No. 1 pay TV operator in the world. Yahoo