As it faces growing competition in its cable businesses, Comcast reported that paid subscribers for its streaming service Peacock increased 22% Year-over-Year to 44 Million as revenue grew 23% to $1.6 billion in Q4 and 10% to $5.4 Billion for the full year.

But the launch of NBA coverage increased costs, pushing adjusted earnings before interest depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to a $552 million loss, up from $372 million Q4 2024.

The earnings for Q4 also highlighted ongoing competitive pressures in Comcast’s cable businesses as pay TV subs declined by 245,000 and broadband subs fell by 181,000. Wireless subs increased, however, by 364,000 in Q4.

The report was the last before Comcast’s cable networks were spun off into a separate company Versant in early January and as such provided some insight into the ad market those networks are facing.

Domestic ad revenue for its media sector increased by 1.5% to $2.68 billion in Q4, 2025 due to increased advertising at its streaming service Peacock while its networks saw declining revenue. The increase in advertising revenue included the positive impact from the launch of the NBA in Q4, the company reported.

Full results available here.

After eight years of declines, MoffettNathanson's new "Cord Cutting Monitor" for Q3 2025 shows that pay TV subscribers to linear TV packages rose by 303,000, the first reported rise in multichannel video programming distributor and virtual MVPD sub counts since 2017.

The last time subscriber counts rose was in Q4 2017, when they increased by 318,000, per data from MoffettNathanson. The slight increase in Q3 is a notable turnaround from the 2,455,000 pay TV sub losses in Q1 2025 and 1,054,000 in Q2 2025.

The analysts stressed that the increase was likely seasonal, as subscriber counts traditionally improve at the start of the football season.

Traditional pay TV operators like Comcast and Charter Communications continued to show declines, and the increases came from vMVPDs like YouTube TV. But MoffettNathanson offered more encouraging news for the pay TV sector with data showing that the rate of decline continued to slow.

“The rate of decline for traditional distributors improved for the fifth straight quarter,” the report stated. “While the rate of decline is still scary-high, it is unmistakably moderating. At Comcast, the trend has been improving for eight straight quarters; there, the rate of decline was the ‘slowest’—although no one would actually call it ‘slow’—since 2022. Even DirecTV and EchoStar have shown at least a little improvement. By far the biggest improvement, however—not just for traditional distribution but for the whole video industry—has come at Charter.”

The report also noted that “the vMVPDs are still growing” but “also more slowly.” The vMVPD category “is growing at a 4.6% annual rate. That’s unchanged versus each of the two prior quarters…even though it remains the slowest growth rate since the category was created,” the report said.

Many cord-cutters looking to reduce their monthly cable or satellite bills are also cutting back on streaming costs, according to new research from All About Cookies. The independent digital privacy education site found that 74% of consumers dropped a streaming service in the past year because of rising prices or switched to a cheaper or ad-supported option.

The research found that, on average, Americans subscribe to 3.4 streaming services. Twenty-seven percent subscribe to five or more services, and the average amount paid monthly for streaming subscriptions is $48.13.

The new research underscored the extent to which the public has dropped traditional TV sources like cable and satellite. Less than one-third (30%) of Americans now use these traditional TV services, the survey found.

When asked if they regretted cutting the cord to get rid of cable or satellite TV subscriptions, only 5% of respondents said they did, All About Cookies reported.

The research also looked at what people use to watch TV. Ninety percent of respondents said they subscribe to paid streaming services, up 14% from 2024; 58% use free streaming services, up 15% from 2024; 30% use cable or satellite, down 16% from last year; 18% report using an antenna and free broadcasts, up 3% from last year; and the percentage of those who do not watch TV at all remained the same compared to 2024, standing at 2%.

When it comes to the percentage of people subscribing to various popular paid streaming services, Netflix and Prime Video ran neck in neck in 2025, with 69% of respondents reporting subscribing to the former and 66% to the latter. Bringing up the rear were Apple TV at 15% and YouTube TV at 12%, All About Cookies found.

The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults last month via Prolific. All anonymous respondents were older than 18 and were U.S. citizens.

More information is available on the All About Cookies website.

The traditional pay-TV sector saw a decline in subscriptions for the ninth consecutive year according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The decline was largely due to cord cutting, with penetration dropping from over 80% in 2011 to 34.4% by the end of 2024. This shift reflects a broader consumer preference for streaming services over traditional cable, S&P said.

"Basic cable networks in the US shed subscribers in 2024 at an average rate of 7.1% as the pay TV universe continues to contract. This marks the ninth consecutive year of the declining subscribers for the industry as consumers trade in their traditional pay TV subscriptions for streaming services and other digital options."

Competition from streaming SVOD services as well as virtual multichannel video program distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV. Overall, there were 23.0 million virtual multichannel subscribers, including services like YouTube TV.

Among the 190 networks analyzed, 36 have over 60 million subscribers, while 49 have less than 10 million. This disparity highlights the uneven distribution of subscribers across networks, with some networks maintaining a strong subscriber base despite industry challenges, S&P said.

The most widely distributed channels were C-SPAN, with 69.6 million subscribers, followed closely by Food Network with 68.4 million. Both networks benefit from being included in basic packages, contributing to their high subscriber counts, S&P said.

The average cable network is anticipated to see a 5.4% annual decline in subscribers from 2025 to 2029, with C-SPAN and Food Network projected to lose 15 to 20 million subscribers by 2029.

C-SPAN announced last week that YouTube TV and Hulu Live Plus would begin carrying the non-profit network this fall.

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Cost-conscious TV viewers are cutting back spending on streaming services, preferring quality programming over a large number of choices, TiVo said in a report released today.

In its “Q4 2024 Video Trends Report,” Xperi-owned TiVo found consumers have begun to declutter their video libraries. This trend of streamlining video services underscores the critical role high-quality content plays in driving sustained engagement and connection with consumers, TiVo said.

In fourth-quarter 2024, TiVo found that consumers decreased their entertainment spending by nearly $20 year-over-year, with the average number of services used declining from 11.1 to 9.9 in the same period. It marked the first time average monthly entertainment spend dropped below $160 since before 2021—it had peaked in 2022 with an average monthly spend of $189.38.

Among those who canceled a subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) within the last 6 months, 17% said they did so because they “weren’t using it enough” and 16.9% said it was because the service raised its prices. This decrease, paired with a plateau of hours spent watching video, highlights that consumers are spending the same amount of time consuming content on linear and streaming TV, but on fewer services. This points to a reprioritization of how and what consumers chose to spend their time on, indicating a migration towards value.

Unlike in previous years, when consumers were willing to pay for ad-free SVOD services, TiVo says today’s consumers opt for richer content libraries, regardless of ad presence, as they seek a more simplified and value-driven entertainment experience. With this shift, consumer ad tolerance rose year-over-year from 75.3% to 76.2% and viewers chose more personalization. As the streaming landscape continues to evolve, the platforms that successfully win over consumers will be the ones that deliver both value and relevance.

“We are seeing a shift in consumer priorities as they look for ways to reduce the number of services they use without sacrificing access to quality content,” said Xperi’s chief product and services officer, Geir Skaaden. “As consumers face economic uncertainty, there will be increased pressure on the entertainment industry to deliver quality content and keep users engaged for long periods of time.

“There is a chance we will see a similar spend and entertainment consumption trend from that which we experienced during the pandemic, with consumers searching for cost-saving measures and spending more time at home, increasing the value in which consumers place on entertainment,“ Skaaden continued. “This new balancing act is and will continue to put more pressure on the entertainment ecosystem to deliver value with relevant and timely content.”

While consumers continue to trim down their streaming services, pay TV is seeing a revival. The number of users planning to cut the cord declined 2% year-over-year, indicating that consumers are staying with cable. This renewed interest has been fueled by unrestricted access to popular entertainment—especially sports—freeing consumers from the walled gardens of many streaming platforms.

In fact, sports emerged as a focus for consumers in Q4 2024. Amid an increasingly fragmented viewing landscape, 58.0% of respondents reported being unable to watch specific sporting events due to lack of access through their subscribed services, leading to frustration when games weren’t available (49.0%) and unveiling an opportunity for providers who can bring sports viewing together to win with consumers.

Additional TiVo Video Trend Report highlights:

• In-car viewing is on the up and up: In-car entertainment viewing increased by 6.0% year-over-year as respondents reported using video to pass the time while waiting in the car and to keep children entertained. Of those who watch video in the car, 75.1% reported doing so at least a few times a month.
• Sharing is caring: Password-sharing has been a hot topic for users and service providers alike, the TiVo report found that 34.6% of respondents shared a SVOD password for at least one service.
• All at once vs. one at a time: About half of respondents shared that they preferred when streaming services release an entire season at once, compared to 19.0% who prefer a slower release cadence of an episode a week; the remainder did not have a preference.
• Personalized ads at all costs: With 41.6% of respondents sharing that they prefer personalized ads no matter the platform, advertisers face greater pressure to provide relevant content that drives meaningful engagement through both linear and CTV options—especially as consumers prioritize quality content.

Find more information from the latest Q4 2024 Video Trends Report here.

Since 2012, TiVo has surveyed consumers to uncover key trends relevant to TV providers, digital publishers, advertisers and consumer electronics manufacturers. The latest TiVo Video Trends Report surveyed 4,490 adults 18 and older living in the U.S. and Canada during the fourth quarter of 2024 (3,485 in the U.S. and 1,005 in Canada).

In addition to identifying and analyzing key trends in viewing habits, the TiVo Video Trends Report provides insight to consumer opinions regarding subscription video on demand (SVOD), transactional video on demand (TVOD) and advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) providers, emerging technologies, connected devices, over-the-top (OTT) apps and content discovery features, including personalized recommendations and search.

DALLAS—An increasing number of U.S. internet households are characterizing themselves as “cord cutters” according to Parks Associates' latest research from its Video Services Consumer Insights Dashboard.

According to the report, 56 million (46%) of U.S. internet households are “cord cutters,’ while 12 % are “cord nevers,” who have never subscribed to any sort of traditional pay TV.

The Dashboard research service tracks adoption trends and shifts in the video services market, including households who are disconnecting in favor of free-to-air broadcasts or online video services.

Service providers are adapting by offering competitive pricing, bundling options, and hybrid monetization strategies. The rise of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services shows the demand for lower-cost alternatives, and subscription-based platforms continue to experiment with tiered pricing and content exclusivity to retain customers.

"Cord Nevers represent a unique opportunity for streaming providers," said Jennifer Kent, Vice President, Research, Parks Associates. "By definition, this segment of the market has not paid for traditional pay TV, but streaming services have found a way to monetize a segment that has not previously valued subscription video or has grown up in a streaming-first market, with different conceptions of what subscription video should be."

For leading streaming services, many consumers prefer the basic tier with ads over the more expensive premium tier with no ads; as of Q3 2024, 59% of subscriptions across the eight leading SVOD services are basic tier with ads subscriptions:

• MAX (formerly HBO)
• Netflix
• Disney+
• Discovery+
• Paramount+
• Prime Video
• Hulu
• Peacock

To achieve profitability and strike a balance for consumers, many of the most popular services now operate under a hybrid model, offering both ad-free and ad-supported plans to viewers. Ad-based tiers are cheaper for consumers and more profitable for businesses, making them a win-win for both parties, according to the researcher.

"Consumers are worn down from continued spending increases in streaming, while years of high inflation are driving consumers to pare down accordingly," Kent said. "This only intensifies the competition among streaming vendors and will fuel more growth of subscription tiers with ads and free ad-based services."

NEW YORK—A new report from S&P Global Ratings highlights ongoing problems in the linear TV business with a prediction that its decline in the U.S. is “irreversible” and plans by Comcast and other to spin off TV networks “face significant challenges amid secular declines and dis-synergies.”

Last year, Comcast announced plans to spin off its linear TV networks. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery is in the process of restructuring into two divisions, separating its linear networks from its studio and streaming operations to better position the company for acquisitions or potential mergers.

“Linear TV’s decline in the U.S. is irreversible, but that there is no immediate cliff,” S&P Global noted in its report. “We expect the decline will be a steady one that will take years to reach its final conclusion."

The report also found losses from cord-cutting are moderating, but affiliate license fees will decline by "3% and 7%, depending on the network portfolio.”

In addition, “advertising, the other key revenue stream supporting linear TV, will decline more precipitously than affiliate fees as audience ratings are eroding quicker than the rate of cord-cutting,” the analysts said, with general entertainment networks feeling the worst impact.

They also argued that “sports-focused networks will hold up better (but still decline), with audience ratings and prices for ad inventory stabilizing or even modestly growing for some sports, particularly the National Football League. [Yet] … even the NFL isn't immune from ratings declines—audience ratings for the 2024 NFL regular season declined by 2.2%.”

Spinning off linear networks would create other challenges by separating them from the studios that produce content, leaving the networks vulnerable to rising programming prices. “Ultimately, the networks would just be distribution vehicles; that is, middlemen that package content licensed from third parties into a linear stream and sell those linear streams to the pay-TV distributors,” leaving them “vulnerable to termination of content rights agreements,” the report said.

“The media companies are in a no-win situation,” the analysts concluded. “Every day the companies hold onto their linear TV networks, they become less valuable.”

The networks, though, also produce a significant portion of overall cash flow, and media companies “still depend heavily on the cash flow from their linear TV networks to help fund their other businesses, make investments, and pay down debt,” S&P said. “This dependence will decline over time as the linear TV business continues shrinking and the streaming segment grows scale and profitability, but for now, we view the linear TV businesses as essential to our current credit ratings on these companies.”

A new analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence calls 2025 “a pivotal year for the global media landscape” as the industry struggles with declining revenue for local broadcast TV, more ad dollars and sports rights shifting to streaming, profit margins for cable network slumping and cord-cutting hitting 9.5% this year.

Overall, the report said the U.S. broadcast TV and radio station industry will decline 9.3% to $32.83 billion in total advertising revenue in 2025 from $36.19 billion in 2024, primarily since it is a nonelection and non-Olympic year. In 2025, a nonpolitical year, S&P estimates total TV station revenue, including retrans, will decline 6.9% to $37.60 billion from $40.40 billion in 2024, although this is $517 million higher than the prior nonpolitical year 2023, with core national spot down 4% and local spot ad revenue ticking up 2%.

In the report, Seth Shafer, senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, argues that “2025 could prove to be a pivotal year for the global media landscape as more sports programming and advertising dollars flow towards streaming services. Intense competition could see a rise in mergers and deal-making, especially in the U.S. where media firms are firmly focused on profitability and deregulation could be on the rise.”

Other key trends include:

• Cord-cutting in the U.S. will persist and continue to pressure linear TV networks. Total traditional U.S. multichannel households will decline by 9.3% in 2025 as more consumers “cut the cord” in favor of digital video and streaming alternatives.
• Carriage disputes will result in more creative bundling options as operators push back on rate hikes from stations and networks. Subscriber declines will also continue to pressure traditional pay TV video margins, resulting in cost-cutting decisions to drop certain networks and push back on rising carriage fees. Even so, the report stressed that both network owners and pay TV operators remain incentivized to keep the traditional bundle alive, resulting in creative bundling strategies and mutual concessions to adapt to the market environment.
• Box office recovery will continue in the wake of the 2023 Hollywood strikes The domestic box office entered its fourth year of recovery in 2024. It had been steadily improving from 2021 and 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the 2020 box-office year. Total box office grew 98.3% in 2021 to $4.33 billion and 69.2% in 2022 to $7.32 billion. Total 2023 box office ended up at $9.16 billion, growing 25.2%, but still down significantly from the totals of more than $11 billion from prior to the pandemic, the report said.
• In the current sports media-rights landscape, the expenses associated with broadcasting games have surged significantly, coinciding with an increasingly fragmented audience spread across various video platforms as more rights shift to streaming.

NEW YORK—In a move that signals further dealmaking and consolidation in the media and entertainment industry, Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a new corporate structure that will split the company into two divisions.

One unit will consist of its global linear networks, which include Discovery, TNT and others; the second division will include its streaming and studio operations, which include Max, its Hollywood studios and other operations.

The company did not specify where HBO would fall in this mix but it is believed that it will be included in the streaming/studio division given its importance to the Max streaming service.

The move follows a decision by Comcast to spin off its linear cable networks amid rampant cord cutting and is part of what analysts believe will be another period of consolidation in the media and entertainment industry.

In announcing the new corporate structure, Warner Bros Discovery said that it will enhance “its strategic flexibility and create potential opportunities to unlock additional shareholder value." The company’s stock price, which has been hurt by the ongoing decline of the pay TV business, soared on the news that the company will be better positioned for dealmaking.

“Since the combination that created Warner Bros. Discovery, we have transformed our business and improved our financial position while providing world class entertainment to global audiences,” said Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO, David Zaslav. “We continue to prioritize ensuring our Global Linear Networks business is well positioned to continue to drive free cash flow, while our Streaming & Studios business focuses on driving growth by telling the world’s most compelling stories. Our new corporate structure better aligns our organization and enhances our flexibility with potential future strategic opportunities across an evolving media landscape, help us build on our momentum and create opportunities as we evaluate all avenues to deliver significant shareholder value.”

Warner Bros. Discovery expects to start working on the reorganization immediately and plans to complete the implementation of the new corporate structure by mid-2025.

The company described the two divisions as follows:

• Global Linear Networks: A premier linear television business that operates some of the most renowned networks with compelling news, sports, scripted and unscripted programming.
• Streaming & Studios: A globally scaled streaming platform and storied film and entertainment studios with a portfolio of the world’s most beloved intellectual property.

The company reported that Global Linear Networks will focus on maximizing profitability and free cash flow to continue deleveraging, its heavy debt load.

In contrast, Streaming & Studios will focus on driving growth and strong returns on increasing invested capital.

J.P. Morgan, Evercore, and Guggenheim Securities are serving as financial advisors to Warner Bros. Discovery and Kirkland & Ellis and Wachtell Lipton are serving as legal counsel.

In a report on the cable networks Comcast plans to spin off into a new entity dubbed “SpinCo,” analyst firm MoffettNathanson Research described the channels’ rapidly declining viewing as “catastrophic.”

“A collection of networks with this viewership profile will have little negotiating leverage, not much of a story to tell advertisers and nothing indispensable to offer streaming services,” the report, issued Dec. 3, said.

But that doesn't mean the proposed tax-free spinoff of the NBCUniversal cable networks—including USA Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Golf Channel, Oxygen and E!—is a bad idea if it can spur consolidation in the declining cable programming business, which the report called “a welcome development.”

Comcast on Nov. 20 said it would spin off those cable networks and digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine into SpinCo. Its NBCUniversal media unit would hold onto broadcasters NBC and Telemundo and their stations, streaming platform Peacock, cable network Bravo and the Universal studios and theme parks.

“To be fair, a careful look … reveals that the rate of decline in ratings has slowed of late; indeed, the last couple of years have been something close to stable, offering at least a ray of hope,” the analysts wrote. “And some of the assets are inherently relatively stable. Yes, all are suffering from falling viewership—cord-cutting makes that inevitable—but CNBC and Golf Channel, to cite the two most obvious examples, have reasonably strong and focused platforms and relatively high engagement (and both of these two have very attractive demographics). Others, however—USA in particular—are structurally weak. Thankfully, Comcast has indicated that SpinCo’s carriage agreements are all relatively recent.”

Those rapidly declining viewing trends indicated that the proposed spinoff is all “about consolidation,“ the report said. ”To that end, spinning off SpinCo will provide a market-derived valuation (once it starts trading) that can serve as the basis for more serious structural discussions that are grounded in reality rather than wishful thinking.”

MoffettNathanson also stressed that the spinoff isn’t a “prerequisite for deal-making; Comcast could have entered into deals while remaining consolidated if they had so desired … But the spin obviously makes deal-making more likely. That’s in part because it makes dealmaking easier. As a publicly traded company, SpinCo will have a market-derived valuation, making it much easier to arrive at mutually agreeable exchange ratios (one shouldn’t underestimate how much of an impediment inflated self-worth has been to transactions in the past).”

While the analysts stressed that “cable network consolidation through SpinCo is not imminent and unlikely to play out until at least 2026,” the report noted that industry executives have long discussed the need for consolidation and identified some likely scenarios.

“Warner Bros. Discovery’s large cable portfolio would make the most natural dancing partner for SpinCo, by a significant margin,” the report argued.

MoffettNathanson also argued that creating SpinCo isn’t a prelude to a merger of Comcast and fellow cable operator Charter Communications, and said the spinoff would improve the growth prospects for Comcast’s remaining assets.

“M&A will take a while to happen,” the report concluded. “[W]hile this will take time and will not be transformational to valuation, it is a welcome development.”

SOUTHPORT, Conn.—A U.S. bankruptcy court has approved Diamond Sports Group’s reorganization plan, paving the way for the troubled regional sports network owner to emerge from Chapter 11 protection. Diamond expects to complete the restructuring process in the coming weeks.

The ruling in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas ends a long-running saga that highlighted the massive impact of cord-cutting on RSNs. After Sinclair paid $10.6 billion for the 21 former Fox Sports Net RSNs in 2019 and set up Diamond as a subsidiary, cord-cutting and a declining pay TV business pushed the group into Chapter 11 in March 2022.

Under the terms of the plan, Diamond will complete a comprehensive balance sheet restructuring that will reduce its debt from almost $9 billion to $200 million. On completion, Diamond will be capitalized with more than $100 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet.

Upon emergence, Diamond’s lead creditors—funds managed by or affiliated with PGIM, Inc., Hein Park Capital Management LP, Discovery Capital Management, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP and Alta Fundamental Advisors LLC—will exchange certain funded debt claims for equity in the reorganized company.

Sinclair’s equity interests in Diamond will be canceled.

Diamond will operate as a standalone entity, having completed its operational separation from Sinclair.

The new owners hope a streaming deal with Amazon's Prime Video, a naming rights agreement with FanDuel that saw the RSNs rebranded as FanDuel Network and rights to 27 MLB, NHL and NBA teams will be enough for the operations to prosper.

When it comes out of Chapter 11, Diamond will be home to 13 NBA teams, 8 NHL teams and 6 MLB teams, including:

• NBA: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs.
• NHL: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning.
• MLB: Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays.

Following Diamond’s completion of the restructuring process, David Preschlack, CEO; Eric Ratchman, president of distribution and business development; and David DeVoe Jr., chief operating officer and chief financial officer will remain in their respective roles. Diamond’s Board will include new members after emergence from bankruptcy.

“Today is a landmark day for Diamond, as we embark on a new path for our business. Diamond is now unencumbered by legacy debt, financially stable and enthusiastically supported by new ownership,” Preschlack said. “Over the last 18 months, we have worked tirelessly to strengthen our business, including by reaching revised multiyear rights agreements with team and league partners, go-forward carriage agreements with major distribution partners, a broad naming rights partnership with FanDuel and a commercial agreement with Amazon. These critical achievements and a realigned business are enabling us to emerge as a sustainable, go-forward entity that drives value for our partners and fans.”

Preschlack continued: “Looking ahead, Diamond is well-positioned to further enhance its product offering and remains committed to delivering the highest quality live sports content in-market to fans through both linear and direct-to-consumer frameworks. I want to express my gratitude to the hardworking Diamond Sports Group employees for their unwavering support, dedication and continued confidence throughout this transformative period. Together, we are excited to build a bright future for Diamond and our stakeholders.”

Additional information regarding Diamond’s Chapter 11 proceeding, including court filings and information about the claims process are available here.

NEW YORK—Warner Bros. Discovery reported impressive gains in its global streaming subscriber numbers, adding more net Max subs than during any quarter since the streaming service launched. That boosted the company stock by more than 10% by 2 p.m. (ET) on Nov. 7 despite hefty Q3 declines in advertising and distribution revenue from its traditional pay TV networks.

Overall, global direct-to-consumer subscribers hit 110.5 million at the end of Q3, an increase of 7.2 million subscribers vs. Q2, with the most new subscribers coming from outside the U.S.

Domestic subscribers rose by 0.2 million to 52.6 million in Q3 versus Q2 2024, but were about the same as they were a year earlier.

Total corporate revenue declined by 4% to $9.673 billion in the third quarter, compared to a year earlier, but net income was a positive $136 million, versus a $417 million loss in Q3 2023.

WBD’s networks segment saw distribution revenue decline by 8% year-over-year while advertising dropped a whopping 13%. Adjusted earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the division fell by 12% from a year earlier.

DTC revenues increased 9% excluding the impact of foreign currency changes (ex-FX) to $2,634 million compared to the prior-year quarter. Advertising revenue in the DTC segment increased 51% ex-FX, primarily driven by an increase in domestic ad-lite subscribers. Meanwhile, DTC operating expenses increased by only 1% ex-FX to $2,345 million compared to the prior year quarter.

DTC adjusted EBITDA was $289 million, a $178 million increase in adjusted EBITDA vs. the prior year. Those results included a $41 million loss from the broadcast of the Paris Summer Olympics in Europe.

PHILADELPHIA—As Comcast reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results, executives told analysts the company is considering spinning off its cable networks, a move that could produce a significant shift in its corporate strategies and in the U.S. media landscape.

“Like many of our peers in media, we are experiencing the effects of the transition in our video businesses and have been studying the best path forward for these assets,“ Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said of the cable networks, part of its NBCUniversal unit, on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “To that end, we are now exploring whether creating a new, well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders. We are not ready to talk about any specifics yet, but we’ll be back to you if and when we reach firm conclusions.

“I’m not talking about Peacock or broadcast,” Cavanagh added, though he did say Comcast would be willing to “consider partnerships in streaming despite their complexities.”

Some analysts, though, have already thrown cold water on the idea and have highlighted a wide range of problems such a deal would pose.

Cavanagh didn't address those specifics and stressed that it is early in a process that, he conceded, would raise a lot of complex issues. Executives were going public with the idea so Comcast shareholders would have a better understanding of what they were exploring, he said.

“There are a lot of questions to which we don't have answers so we want to do the work, and we want to do the work with transparency around it so that as rumors fly and the like, we expect that,” he said. “But we want our shareholders to understand what we’re willing to look at. And that's in the context of a broader, ‘We look at a lot of things.’ And I do think in a moment of a lot of transition in the industries we're part of, I think we've got a very strong hand given the strength of the businesses.”

In response to the possibility of the spinoff, LightShed Partners analysts Richard Greenfield, Brandon Ross and Mark Kelley were generally negative about the prospects of a cable spinoff or any deal involving Peacock.

“Given the acceleration in cord-cutting and the secular decline of linear TV advertising, particularly basic-cable networks, it’s no surprise that Comcast/NBCU would be interested in spinning off its cable networks,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, spinning off NBCU’s cable networks is challenging at this stage of their life cycle and merging Peacock with a streaming-industry peer is beyond complicated. In turn, we wonder whether this is really much ado about nothing or if it could actually lead to a far broader strategic conversation where Comcast revisits spinning off/merging all of NBCU ex-Theme Parks.

“We suspect this is much ado about nothing and is simply a sign of just how structurally challenged linear cable networks and subscale, U.S.-only streaming platforms are in 2024 and beyond,” the analysts concluded. “When you see a dismal future, with no path to growth, you sound the alarm and explore strategic alternatives.”

Cable Carriage Deals a Concern
One major problem with a spinoff was the value of those networks in ongoing negotiations with multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) as a separate company without NBC, which Cavanaugh said would not be included in the spinoff.

“While Comcast Cable could certainly sign a long-term distribution deal with NBCU’s cable networks, why would any other distributor want to renew its carriage agreements or at least renew at levels anywhere near current agreements?” they asked. “It is one thing to package USA, Syfy, Bravo, MSNBC and CNBC cable-network distribution with NBC broadcast, which controls ‘Sunday Night Football,’ college football, Olympics and soon NBA. But without NBC, those cable networks would be in an incredibly precarious position.”

“Remember what happened to Diamond Sports after it lost the protection of the Fox Broadcast Network?” the analysts added, referencing the troubled former Sinclair subsidiary that acquired the Fox Sports regional sports network business spun out during Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. “Diamond’s $2 billion of EBITDA evaporated within three years and entered bankruptcy because it lost distribution. And remember, there is a lot of NBCU cable network content on Peacock, so for consumers that love that content, there are still ways to access that content, even if not carried by an MVPD/vMVPD.”

Likewise, they noted that some sort of partnership with Peacock is an appealing idea given the streaming platform has already lost $9 billion and is still losing $400 million a quarter. But a “Peacock merger with another streaming service sounds even more complicated and hard to effectuate,” they said.

Issues that would complicate such a deal include control over the partnership; the difficulties of untangling the close ties between Peacock and NBC in terms of programming and sports rights; the regulatory environment; and existing sports-rights deals that could be voided by a merger.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —Dish Network has announced that new subscribers will get Netflix included with Dish TV subscriptions at no additional cost for two years.

The offer comes as Dish has been suffering large subscriber losses. The Netflix offer, which applies to new Dish customers who sign up for a two-year commitment, could help slow or reduce those losses.

Those new subscribers will get access to a Netflix Standard Plan (ad-free) as part of their package. Even if customers are already Netflix subscribers, Dish said, they are still eligible for this offer when they sign up for satellite-TV service.

“We’re always looking for ways to simplify and elevate the viewing experience for our customers,” Dish Video Services Group President Gary Schanman said. “This new Dish and Netflix offer is a great opportunity to give Dish customers Netflix’s popular series and films. By bringing together the best of live TV and streaming, we’re offering convenience and access to the most sought-after content in one seamless experience.”

Dish noted that its Dish Hopper whole-home DVR system makes it easy to switch between live TV and Netflix, and that Netflix can be easily accessed right in the channel guide, on the Hopper home screen or by simply saying “Netflix” into the Dish Voice Remote.

New Dish customers with eligible equipment—including Hopper 3, Hopper Duo, Hopper Plus or Wally receivers and a high-speed internet connection—can take advantage of this offer.

After a period of strong growth, BIA Advisory Services is predicting that cord cutting and the shift towards streaming will produce a “flattening” in retransmission fees between 2024 and 2028. That marks and important change from recent years, where BIA estimates that local TV stations generated $12.3 billion in distribution revenue from MVPDs and vMVPDs in 2020, and this rose 22.5 percent to $15.1 billion by 2023. 

A blog post by BIA's Rick Ducey noted that “as shown below, NBC affiliated stations saw the largest increase in distribution revenue in this period, followed by CBS, FOX, and ABC.  Broadcasters often negotiate both financial and non-financial terms such as including carriage of diginets.”

“Looking ahead beyond 2023, the local TV industry has come to rely on these distribution revenues but the dynamics are in flux,” Ducey noted. “In a world with growing segments of homes that are cord-cutters and cord nevers with a transition to CTV/OTT streaming video services, the economics of retransmission consent are changing as MVPDs see video subscriber losses along with the associated revenues from which distribution fees can be paid. MVPDs themselves are making adjustments by moving towards offering their own streaming services served to their growing ranks of broadband customers versus their traditional cable households.”

The BIA did not provide specific dollar figures for its 2024-2028 retrans fee estimates but noted that “BIA’s latest forecast for local TV station vMVPD/MVPD distribution revenue shows growth from 2023 but an overall flattening in the 2024-2028 period. Of the total amount of distribution revenue in the 2020-2028 period, the Top 25 TV Markets account for over half of the local TV station revenue from multichannel video providers. The Top 10 markets generate 29.9 percent of the total and Markets 11-25 get 21.6 percent.”

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast reported improved results at Peacock, with paid subscribers growing to 33 million and losses at the streaming service continuing to decline. But it continued to hemorrhage pay TV subs, which fell by 419,000 in Q2 2024, and it lost 120,000 broadband subscribers. 

Overall, Comcast’s pay TV subscribers fell from 14.495 million subs a year ago in Q2 2023 to 13.199 million in Q2 2024, a decline of nearly 1.3 million. Meanwhile broadband subs fell by 120,000 in Q2 2024 to 32.068 million, which was also down from the 32.305 million broadband subs in Q2 2023. 

Overall the company exceeded earnings estimates but missed on revenue, thanks to problems with its theme parks and movie studio operations, pushing the stock down 4.2% at 12:05 p.m. ET on July 23. 

However, adjusted earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for its media segment, which include its broadcast, network and streaming operations, increased 9.0% to $1.4 Billion, driven by improved performance at Peacock. 

Peacock paid subscribers increased 38.0% compared to the prior year period to 33 million. Peacock’s revenue also jumped, increasing by 28% to $1.0 billion. That was the best year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA for any quarter since launch in 2020, Comcast said. 

Overall Peacock had $1.0 billion of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $348 million in Q2 2024, a notable improvement to $820 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $651 million a year earlier in Q2 2024.

Top executives from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have consistently insisted that their joint venture to launch the Venu Sports streaming bundle in the fall of 2024 would not harm the pay TV industry or accelerate cord cutting. 

Right from the start, a number of analysts have doubted that assessment. Now a new survey from Aluma provides new notable and compelling data supporting the idea that the Venu service will negatively impact the already crumbling pay TV industry. 

The issue is important not only for pay TV operators but also for broadcasters who have staked much of their financial future on extracting ever larger sums of money from retransmission consent deals with pay TV operators. 

In earnings calls right after the sports streaming service was announced, the backers of Venu Sports argued that the new service targets cord cutters and would not hurt the pay TV industry. 

However, the new Aluma Insights study finds that pay TV subscribers are far more inclined than non-subscribers to sign up for the Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery (DFW) sports bundle when it launches. One-in-five pay TV subscribers are at least moderately likely to sign up for the DFW bundle, double the rate of those without pay TV, reports Michael Greeson, principal analyst, at Aluma Insights. 

The data is based on cost-averaged interest across three randomly and exclusively assigned price points: $29.99, $39.99, and $49.99 per month.

Among the pay TV customers likely to sign up for the DFW bundle, 39% are at least moderately likely to cancel their pay TV service as a result. And MVPDs are taking notice, Greeson explained. 

“A loss of even 10% to 15% of the already-declining base of paid subscribers would severely diminish the ability of operators to stay afloat,” noted Michael Greeson, principal analyst at Aluma. “And if those launching the DFW bundle intend to rely on demand from those without pay TV, they can forget about it. Less than one-in-ten are legitimate prospects for the service.”

In other words, the most lucrative audience for the DFW bundle is pay-TV subscribers, not at all what MVPDs want to hear, Greeson noted. 

The analyst also notes that the potential impact of the DFW bundle on pay-TV subscriptions spurred virtual MVPD Fubo to file an antitrust lawsuit against the three companies. It charges that these networks continue to thwart Fubo’s service by forcing it to buy bloated channel bundles in order to distribute the high-value live sports they own.

“If the Department of Justice does not enjoin the DFW venture or level the playing field for Fubo to license their content at rates larger operators enjoy, Fubo could lose as much as 10% to 15% of its subscriber base by summer 2025,” Greeson noted. 

The data also raises some interesting questions about how successful the streaming JV might be. 

One factor that could constrain uptake of the new bundle is price. At the moment, there is a modest consensus it will launch at $50 a month. If it does, it would lessen its disruptive potential. Aluma’s research found that only 11% of decision-makers are at least moderately likely to sign up for the bundle at $49.99 per month, half the demand at $29.99 a month, the Aluma data showed. 

The data comes from March and April 2024, when Aluma Insights surveyed 2,032 US adults that use a broadband internet service at home, watch TV at least once a month, and who make or share in making decisions about their household’s TV and video services. Respondents were randomly drawn from a panel of over three million double-opt-in participants managed by a top-5 sample vendor. Quotas were set to represent the population in focus using data from Aluma, Pew, and US Census data.

In the wake of DirecTV’s recent announcement that subscribers to its pay TV services could choose less expensive programming packages without local broadcast stations, Dish has responded by reminding consumers that it has offered this option for the last seven years. 

“In light of recent news regarding DirecTV's introduction of its new opt-out feature for local channels, it's important to highlight that Dish has been offering this capability to customers for the last seven years,” Dish said. “Dish firmly believes in empowering its subscribers with the ability to customize their viewing experience according to their preferences.”

Both companies have been involved with extensive retransmission disputes with local broadcast station groups in recent years. While cord-cutting has hurt the entire pay-TV industry, satellite operators like Dish and DirecTV have been particularly impacted because they can’t effectively bundle high-speed broadband services with their video packages the way cable and telco operators do.   

The Leichtman Research Group (LRG) estimates that DirecTV lost 1.8 million subs in 2023 while public financial statements filed by Dish indicate it lost 945,000. 

Dish ended 2023 with 6,471,000 satellite subs, down from a peak of 14.1 million satellite subs in 2010. 

In 2023, Dish and DirecTV accounted for more than half (2.75 million) of the 5 million subs lost by major pay TV operations, LRG reported. 

DURHAM, N.H.—Major pay TV providers have passed another unpleasant milestone in 2023 with a new Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) report finding that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. 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 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.”

The major pay TV providers covered by the report represent about 96% of the market. The record breaking 2023 sub losses mean that the top seven cable companies had about 34.1 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services had about 21 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services (including estimates for YouTube TV) served about 16.2 million subscribers.

Comcast suffered the largest pay TV sub losses, ending 2023 down 2,036,000 video subs to 14,106,000, followed DirecTV (11,300,000, down 1,800,000), Charter (14,122,000 subs, down 1,025,000),  and Dish TV (6,471,000, down 945,000).

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.

DENVER—Adtaxi’s 2024 Streaming TV Survey is predicting that the rapid rise in the popularity of streaming services will once again produce declines in traditional TV viewing and pay TV subscribers this year.

The annual survey found that streaming levels surpass 80% of U.S. adults in 2024 and that Americans are now choosing streaming as their default source for viewing content. Nearly three in four (73%) list streaming as the first destination for content, versus cable (15%) and broadcast (6%). 

That in turn is producing declining interest in cable and broadcast options. In just the past year, the study found that there has been a 50% decrease in the percentage of adults who first turn to cable and broadcast for viewing content, as streaming has become the top choice for the majority of Americans, regardless of gender, age, or household income level.

“Each year, streaming utilization increases as more Americans move away from cable and broadcast options,” said Adtaxi director of research, Murry Woronoff. “A recent report from eMarketer supports our findings, claiming that they expect 10 million adults–representing 5 million households–to cut the cable cord in 2024. We anticipate streaming to continue to dominate the market as consumers rely on digital devices more and more.”

Key takeaways from the Adtaxi’s survey include:  

• Default Source: 73% of adults turn to streaming services before cable (15%) and broadcast (6%). Over half of those who belong to groups that typically are slower to adopt technologies, including older Baby Boomers, the Silent Generation, and those with household incomes below $35,000, are also preferring streaming. 
• Device Decisions: When choosing how to watch TV and video content, the majority (72%) watch through their TV set – but not exclusively. Over the past 30 days, respondents also consumed TV via their smartphone (59%), laptop (37%), and tablet (30%). On average, Americans use 2 different devices to consume content. 
• Streaming Service Subscriptions: In 2023, only 62% of free streamers incorporated 1 or 2 different services, but in 2024, this figure has dropped to 48%, as the majority utilize 3 or more services. Paid streamers have increased from using an average of 3 services to 4. The average monthly expenditure of paid streamers is in the range of 70-75 dollars.
• How Viewers Respond to Ads: On average, streamers who respond to ads do so in two or more ways. Over half (51%) go directly to a company’s website, 40% look at the company’s social media, and 36% consider a company review. 
• Advertising Effect: When it comes to advertising on streaming services, a significant majority of respondents (two-thirds) have observed a rise in the volume of ads displayed while streaming. Of those respondents, half claim the increase in ads has a negative effect on their viewing experience.
• Necessary Features: When asked what features are most important in a streaming service, a substantial majority of consumers (60%) said low price was a top priority, followed by a large content library (48%), commercial-free options (42%), and easy user interface (36%). The least important options for consumers are offline viewing (21%), personalized recommendations (22%), and professional sports (22%).

“The findings of our 2024 Streaming TV Survey are extremely crucial for digital marketers to utilize as they create their marketing and advertising plans for the upcoming year,” said Chris Loretto, executive vice president of Adtaxi. “As streaming continues to dominate viewership, utilizing both paid and free platforms will be highly important for reaching key audiences. Throughout 2024 and beyond, digital mediums will continue to be a necessary portion of marketers’ strategies.” To view the full report, click HERE.

This survey was conducted online using Survey Monkey, among a sample of 1,137 adult respondents. The surveyed population is balanced across U.S. geographic regions, income levels, gender, and age. The survey was conducted on November 2, 2023.

The full report is available here. 

New forecasts from GlobalData suggest that the decline of traditional pay TV video services is only going to get worse, with only 32% of U.S. homes having one in 2028. That marks a further decline from the 42% penetration rate in 2023 and a steep decline from 2009 and 2010 when pay TV penetration exceeded 85%. 

The GlobalData study explained that the subscription declines reflected the fact that more viewers will be cutting the cord and shifting over to over-the-top (OTT) streaming services. 

Complicating matters are the younger viewers who have never even subscribed to a traditional pay TV service and likely never will. In addition sports rights, which had traditionally kept some viewers in the pay TV universe, are increasingly shifting over to streaming. 

GlobalData’s latest report, “United States Pay-TV Forecast,” also predicts that the total linear U.S. pay-TV subscriptions will fall below 50 million by 2025, as viewers continue turning away from cable TV, satellite TV, and broadband-delivered IPTV subscriptions.

Meanwhile, viewers will be spending more time on ad-supported streaming video (AVOD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services like The Roku Channel, Tubi, Peacock, and Pluto TV; virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling TV; as well as streaming video on demand (SVOD) services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, either with or without ads, the researchers said.

“Younger generations tend to adopt new technologies and services like video streaming, but an additional element of the cord-nevers is the emergence of the ‘generation rent’ phenomenon,” explained Jesús Romo, principal analyst at GlobalData. “Younger consumers who are priced out of the housing market and rent for longer periods may prefer more flexible entertainment options that do not require a physical installation, are generally unbundled, and allow them to cancel and resubscribe.”

Tammy Parker, principal analyst at GlobalData added that “sports programming has been the chief redeeming feature for traditional pay TV services, which is still true to a point, but streaming video providers are increasingly encroaching on that sacrosanct relationship, with certain live sports events having already migrated to streaming platforms. For example, viewers who want to watch NFL Thursday Night Football or Major League Soccer’s MLS Season Pass need to turn to Amazon Prime or Apple TV+, respectively. Disney’s expected launch of a standalone ESPN streaming service will further encourage a viewer exodus from traditional linear TV providers.”

As traditional pay TV service providers continue to lose customers, cable’s share of that shrinking market will grow in the coming years; cable is expected to control 69% of the U.S. pay TV market in 2028, up from 64% this year. 

This is largely due to the satellite pay TV providers’ more rapidly shrinking customer bases, the study found. Although U.S. cable’s subscriber rolls will shrink at a CAGR of -3% from this year through 2028, satellite-based providers will see a decline of -6% CAGR, and IPTV providers will fare even worse, with a CAGR of -12%.

“Pay TV subscription revenues are taking a hit as well," Parker concluded. "Though price increases have helped cable and satellite TV providers grow their average revenue per subscriber (ARPS), traditional pay TV revenue is on the decline. Total annual US pay TV subscription revenue is expected to plummet from $80.8 billion in 2023 to less than $63.6 billion in 2028, registering a declining CAGR of nearly -5%.”

DURHAM, N.H.—U.S. pay TV providers continued to hemorrhage subscribers in Q3 2023 according to new data from the Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) showing that the largest pay TV providers in the U.S. – representing about 96% of the market – lost about 465,000 net video subscribers in Q3 2023, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 385,000 in Q3 2022. 

The results, however, weren’t as bad as the previous quarter, when LRG reported that the largest pay TV providers in the U.S. lost about 1,730,000 net video subscribers in Q2 2023, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 1,725,000 in Q2 2022.

Q3 also produced generally positive results for vMVPDs like Fubo TV and Sling. vMVPDs added 1.3M subs while traditional pay TV providers lost 1.8M subs in the quarter. 

“Similar to recent years, pay TV net losses in the third quarter were more modest than in the first two quarters of the year due to the strength of sports on Internet-delivered vMVPD services,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.  “While traditional pay TV services had a net loss of about 1.8 million subscribers in Q3 2023, vMVPDs had over 1.3 million net additions in the quarter.”

The top pay TV providers account for about 71.5 million subscribers – with the top seven cable companies having about 34.9 million video subscribers, other traditional pay TV services having 21.9 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay TV services having 14.7 million subscribers.

Other key findings from LRG include: 

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 1,015,000 video subscribers in 3Q 2023 – compared to a loss of about 985,000 subscribers in Q3 2022
• Other traditional pay TV services had a net loss of about 780,000 subscribers in 3Q 2023 – compared to a loss of about 700,000 subscribers in Q3 2022
• Top vMVPDs added about 1,325,000 subscribers in Q3 2023 – compared to a gain of about 1,300,000 subscribers in Q3 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In response to a growing number of programming blackouts caused by programmers and pay TV operators unable to reach carriage and retransmission consent agreements, the Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced proposals that she hopes will help consumers impacted by the blackouts. 

The move comes at a time when cord-cutting and the decline of the pay TV ecosystem has produced increasingly acrimonious negotiations between programmers and operators that have produced a number of major blackouts of local stations and TV programming involving Nexstar, DirecTV, Dish, Disney, Charter and others in the last year.  

In response, Rosenworcel has shared two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking with her fellow commissioners that would, if adopted by a vote of the full Commission, seek comment on rebates for consumers and requiring notifications to the Commission of blackouts lasting more than 24 hours.  

“Enough with the blackouts,” said Rosenworcel in a statement. “When consumers with traditional cable and satellite service turn on the screen, they should get what they pay for. It’s not right when big companies battle it out and leave viewers without the ability to watch the local news, their favorite show, or the big game.  If the screen stays dark, they deserve a refund.”

The two related blackout proposals are: 

• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on whether and how to require cable and satellite providers to issue rebates to subscribers in the event of a blackout due to a failure to reach a retransmission consent agreement with broadcast station(s)/group owners.
• A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on a proposal to require Multichannel Video Program Distributors (MVPDs) to notify the Commission via an online public portal when there is a blackout of 24 hours or more of broadcast programming due to a failure to reach a retransmission consent agreement.  

Cord cutting, a tougher TV ad market, competition from streaming services and lower ratings are cutting into cable TV network ad revenue, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence that predicts ad revenue will drop by 4.9% in 2023 and drop below $20 billion in 2027. 

"Linear cable network advertising revenue is under pressure from a multitude of factors including cord cutting and the proliferation of ad-supported streaming services,”  Scott Robson, senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence said. “We anticipate that gross advertising revenue will fall 4.9% in 2023 to an estimated $22.4 billion, and that revenue will decline every year in the next five years, dipping below $20 billion in 2027. Our outlook is not calling for a total collapse of the market, however, as we believe there is still value in cable network ads over the next five years as the industry continues its slow migration to on-demand platforms."

The new report is also predicting that while advertising revenue is projected to do better in the even years with boosts from the Olympics and political elections overall advertising revenue for the cable networks will decline every year in the next five years, dipping below $20 billion in 2027 for the first time since 2007.

In a blog post, Robson also argued that the “fallout from the recent carriage dispute between Charter Communications Inc. and Walt Disney Co. suggests that niche cable networks may be vulnerable to being dropped by more major operators. As a result, these networks may draw fewer viewers in the future, which will result in fewer ad dollars.”

Robson noted that S&P Market Intelligence estimates that cable's gross advertising revenue fell 3.4% in 2022 to $23.6 billion, which is the lowest level since 2010. In addition to declining ratings, linear cable networks are dealing with an increasing amount of competition from ad-supported streaming services looking to take a piece of the pie.

However, live sports remain a very valuable genre, which will allow the sports networks were able to increase combined advertising revenue by 2.8% in 2022 to $4.3 billion, he wrote. 

Robson also cited a number of challenges facing cable networks in terms of advertising: 

• "The future of cable network advertising revenue faces headwinds from cord cutting, which has resulted in fewer viewers and shrinking ratings. This will increasingly negatively impact more niche networks that are dropped by major operators," Robson wrote. 
• Advertising on cable networks does not allow for the same level of audience targeting as digital ads, making them less appealing to advertisers because it is difficult to track performance.. However, call-to-action ads are increasingly allowing for better tracking, he noted. 
• Another factor reducing the value of cable ads for advertisers is the fact that viewers may be tuned into a TV network during an ad, but in today's age of smartphones, it is hard to know who is paying attention to the ad.
• Linear network advertising revenue will also be challenged by the growth of ad-supported Netflix Inc., Disney+, Max and other on-demand platforms that operated ad-free up until the past few years, he said. 
• In addition, he said, free, ad-supported streaming TV services like PlutoTV are rapidly growing advertising revenue, which is stealing share from cable networks.

As the TV business realigns itself around streaming services, traditional pay-TV services continue to bleed subscribers, according to the most recent quarterly results from Leichtman Research Group.

In its latest report, LRG reported that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S.—representing about 96% of the market—lost about 1,730,000 net video subscribers in 2Q 2023, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 1,725,000 in 2Q 2022. 

The top pay-TV providers account for about 71.9 million subscribers—with the top seven cable companies having 35.9 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having about 22.7 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services having about 13.4 million subscribers, according to LRG.

Top cable providers had a net loss of about 925,000 video subscribers in 2Q 2023—compared to a loss of about 950,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022, while other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 690,000 subscribers in 2Q 2023—compared to a loss of about 710,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022, LRG said. Top vMVPDs (including an estimate for YouTube TV) had a net loss of about 115,000 subscribers in 2Q 2023—compared to a loss of about 65,000 subscribers in 2Q 2022.

“Pay-TV net losses of about 1.73 million in 2Q 2023 were similar to the losses in last year’s second quarter,” 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 5,360,000 subscribers, compared to a net loss of about 4,235,000 over the prior year.”

STAMFORD, Conn.—While Charter has done much better than other major pay TV operators in retaining video subs, the company has announced a major shift in its video strategy that it hopes will help it thrive in a streaming, cord-cutting landscape. 

Building on the announcement last year of a joint venture with Comcast to create the Xumo streaming platform, Charter is now planning to use Xumo as “our go-to-market platform for new video sales,” according to Chris Winfrey, president and CEO, Charter Communications. 

Winfrey made the remarks in a conference call with analysts announcing Charters Q2 2023 results, which included the loss of 189,000 subs, a much better result than the 543,000 subs lost by Comcast. 

The Comcast and Charter joint venture began offering Xumo-branded TVs this summer. 

“We're excited for the upcoming release of the Xumo product, which I believe will be an industry-leading platform for customers to access all of their linear and DTC video content with unified search and discovery,” Winfrey said. “Together with our Spectrum TV app, the most viewed linear MVPD streaming service in the US, Xumo will be our go-to-market platform for new video sales. We're currently conducting field trials in the product, and we remain on track for deployment later this year.”

The move is clearly related to shifts in the video business towards streaming platforms like Roku and Apple TV. Like many operators, Charter has already begun offering video packages via streaming app rather than settop boxes and the move towards Xumo would accelerate that trend. 

“Xumo…really is an extension of what we've been doing already,” Winfrey told analysts. “Two-thirds of our video sales today are without a set-top box, meaning they're going on to Roku, Apple TV, Samsung TV or other platforms.”

“The concept around Xumo was to, through a joint venture with Comcast, have an ownership in an independent entity, which is Xumo that provides better functionality and exist for customers today where they can integrate all of their DTC SVOD and linear services in a single place with unified search and discovery with a voice remote,” he added later in the call. “And so that will be our platform of choice to deliver to our video subscriptions going forward. And ultimately, I expect us to provide that to some broadband customers over time as well.”

“That will be good for Xumo as an independent platform, but I also think it provides functionality to our connectivity customers and we can provide the level of video services to our customers through our connectivity packages,” he said. 

New data from Convergence Research highlights some trends that will continue to fuel growth in streaming media, with cord-cutter/cord-never homes in the U.S. growing to 72% of all households in 2025 and traditional pay TV video offerings seeing even larger sub losses in the next few years.  

"Net-net traditional TV access [from a pay TV subscription] is well into becoming a niche product (even if we included vMVPDs in our TV numbers)," the report said.  

“The Battle for the North American (US/Canada) Couch Potato: OTT and TV” report analyzed more than 80 OTT services (over 50 providers), led by Netflix, Disney/Hulu, WBD, Amazon. Based on that data, it concluded that 2022 U.S. OTT access revenue grew 26% to $49.6 billion and forecasts 21% growth in 2023. But that growth will significantly slow to 13% in 2025. 

The researchers also estimated that broadcast and cable TV Network online advertising, propelled by OTT (AVOD, FAST, SVOD), will rise to 23% of 2025 U.S. TV advertising revenue.

Much of this is being fueled by an ongoing slump in the pay TV ecosystem. The report estimates that 2022 U.S. cable, satellite, telco TV access revenue declined 6% to $85.8 billion and will drop by even larger rates in the future, with a 9% decline in 2023 and 13% in 2025.

Meanwhile the decline of 7.37 million U.S. TV subscribers in 2022 will grow to a 8.24 million TV pay TV sub loss in 2023, Convergence estimated. That means U.S. pay TV subs, which declined by 11% in 2022, will drop by even faster rates in the next few years, with a 14% decline in 2023 and 16% in 2025.

This will produce a notable transformation in the way U.S. homes get their video entertainment. Convergence Research’s cord-cutter model estimates that at the end of 2022 there were almost 70 million US households (over 53% of households) who did not have a TV subscription with a cable, satellite, or telco TV access provider. By the end of 2025 cord cutters will comprise 72% of U.S. households. 

Looking further into the future, the Converence researchers are projecting a decline of 70% of TV subs between the end of 2022 and the end of 2028. During that period, annual TV access revenue from pay TV subs will decline by more than 60% of annual TV access revenue the number of cord cutter/cord never households will nearly double. Annual OTT revenue will grow by more than two and a half times between 2022 and 2028. 

Meanwhile TV access providers that are also broadband providers continue to benefit from the rise of OTT. Annual residential broadband revenue has more than doubled over the last decade, while TV access revenue is in its 7th year of decline, the report found. 

More information on the report, which also includes extensive data on Canada, is available here.  

DURHAM, NH—Cord-cutting hit an all time high in the first quarter of 2023, with the largest pay TV providers in the U.S.—representing about 96% of the market—losing about 2,215,000 net video subscribers, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 1,850,000 in the same period a year ago, a decline of more than 16%, according to Leichtman Research Group.

But the loss wasn’t restricted to just traditional pay-TV; virtual multichannel program distributors such as Hulu Plus Live TV and Sling TV also lost subscribers as well. As a whole, vMVPDs lost 394,000 subscribers in Q1; the only service to gain subscribers was YouTube TV, which added approximately 100,000 during a quarter when it announced an $8 rate increase that went into effect in April.  

The top pay-TV providers account for about 73.7 million subscribers—with the top seven cable companies having about 36.8 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having 23.4 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services (now including an estimate for YouTube TV) having about 13.5 million subscribers.

Key findings for the quarter include:

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 1,060,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2023 – compared to a loss of about 825,000 subscribers in 1Q 2022;
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 760,000 subscribers in 1Q 2023 – compared to a loss of about 625,000 subscribers in 1Q 2022, and
• Top vMVPDs had a net loss of about 395,000 subscribers in 1Q 2023 – compared to a loss of about 400,000 subscribers in 1Q 2022

“Pay-TV net losses of about 2.2 million in 1Q 2023 were more than in any previous quarter,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.  “Similar to recent quarters, the record net losses appear to be as much a function of a slowdown in new connects as an increase in disconnects.”

The numbers match a similar report from MoffetNathanson released last week that noted total pay-TV penetration of U.S. households (including vMVPDs) has dropped to 58.5%, its lowest in 31 years.

The report comes a day after LRG reported that broadband providers added about 960,000 subscribers in Q1, however that comes as little comfort to the pay-TV providers whose broadband business is taking up the slack from the loss of video customers. Most of the additional broadband subscribers during the quarter were for the fast-growing fixed wireless 5G market dominated by T-Mobile.

NEW YORK—S&P Global Ratings has updated its U.S. pay-TV video subscriber forecast in the wake of the two largest U.S. cable companies, Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc., reporting aggregate residential video subscriber losses for the first quarter of 2023 that were significantly higher than 1Q 2022 and well ahead of S&P Global Ratings' forecast.

"We expect the rate of overall pay-TV subscriber losses in 2023 will modestly increase from 2022's 7.0% decline," said Naveen Sarma, an analyst with S&P Global Ratings. "Legacy pay-TV subscriber declines, which includes cable, telco and satellite, will likely reach 12.4%, somewhat tempered by 10.4% growth of virtual pay-TV video subscribers. Virtual subscriber growth will benefit significantly from the NFL Sunday Ticket broadcast contract moving from DirecTV to Alphabet’s YouTube TV service."

S&P Global Ratings views the rate of cord-cutting as a credit negative for the entire TV media sector, although the degree varies by subsector, with regional sports networks and children's and premium cable networks being most vulnerable to cord-cutting. 

"The ultimate impact to individual companies' operating and credit metrics depends on the entity," said Sarma, "because most large media companies have diverse business operations, and their streaming services benefit from the decline in legacy television."

In Q1, 2023 Comcast said it lost 614,000 video subscribers during the quarter, an increase from the 444,000 it reported in Q4 2022.

Charter meanwhile reported losing 815,000 subs in the first quarter, a 5.2% decline. 

Pay TV providers, including cable, satellite and vMVPD companies representing 92% of the market, lost nearly 5.9 million net video subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma loss of about 4.7 million in 2021 according to Leichtman Research Group

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Network has once again reported heavy pay TV sub losses with its total pay TV subs falling by 552,000 to 9.198 million, as satellite subs fell by 318,000 to 7.098 million and its streaming Sling TV subs fell by 234,000 to 2.1 million. 

The Sling TV streaming sub losses were the worst since the 234,000 sub losses reported in Q1 2022 and mark a steep decline in the virtual MVPD’s subscribers from 2.252 million in Q1 2022 and 2.439 million in Q1 2021. 

The losses raise doubts about Dish’s ability to fund its transition into a 5G wireless company as it reported revenue totaling $3.96 billion for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, compared to $4.33 billion for the corresponding period in 2022.

Net income attributable to Dish Network totaled $223 million for the first quarter 2023, compared to $433 million for the year-ago quarter.

Diluted earnings per share were $0.35 for the first quarter, compared to $0.68 per share during the same period in 2022. 

Retail wireless net subscribers decreased by approximately 81,000 in the first quarter, compared to a net decrease of 343,000 in the year-ago quarter. The company closed the quarter with 7.91 million retail wireless subscribers.

NEW YORK—Amid growing concerns about an economic recession and wider media trends that threaten local broadcast TV revenue, a new report from S&P Global Ratings argues that the financial state of local broadcasting is relatively secure and has issued a "stable" credit ratings outlook for local broadcasters. 

The analysis comes at a time when despite widespread cord cutting has increased fears that broadcasters could see declines retransmission fee revenue.

While retransmission revenue growth slowed significantly across the U.S. local TV industry in 2022, to around 3% from around 10% in the previous two years, S&P is predicting growth in retransmission revenue over the next two years. 

S&P remains skeptical, however, that NextGen TV will provide significant new revenue in the near term and downplayed the potential upside from local sports in its financial analysis of local TV. 

“We believe retransmission revenue will increase annually in the mid-single-digit percent area over the next two years,” explained Rose Oberman, credit analyst, S&P Global Ratings. “Our industry forecast assumes total pay-TV subscribers will decline more than 7% per annum over the next two years. This will be more than offset by local TV broadcasters negotiating higher retransmission rates during contract renewals with pay-TV distributors. We believe retransmission revenue growth will flatten after 2024 and potentially turn negative after 2025, as more moderate price increases during contract renewals (given declining TV audiences, weaker broadcast network content, and less exclusive broadcast network content) become insufficient to offset subscriber churn.”

The report noted that beyond 2025, “we expect retransmission revenue will eventually decline. However, we believe revenue declines will be manageable and no higher than in the low-single-digit percent area within the next five years. We believe broadcast TV will remain a key component of pay-TV distributors' video offerings as the broadcast networks will continue to carry key sports programming.”

Overtime that will reduce the importance of retransmission revenue, which currently represents more than 40% of total revenue for most local TV broadcasters, and make core advertising (excluding political ad spending) an increasing percentage of industry revenues.

The report also addressed the issue of whether NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 will provide a significant revenue boost in the near terms. While NextGen TV could present revenue opportunities for datacasting and targeted advertising, the report said they were “skeptical as to what extent ATSC 3.0 can be monetized and do not expect to incorporate any benefit from it in our analysis until the industry has demonstrated an ability to sign and implement new contracts and generate meaningful revenue from it.”

S&P expects that “local TV broadcasters will benefit from $4 billion in high-margin political advertising revenue in 2024 given the U.S. presidential election to help reduce leverage. While we expect a shallow recession in 2023 will reduce core advertising by about 3% in 2023, we expect it will largely recover in 2024 as economic conditions improve. To the extent that retransmission revenue growth becomes negative over the longer-term, this could trigger a reassessment of our views on the sector.”

Looking ahead, the report also covered other potential revenue opportunities, including local sports. While acquiring sports rights could provide an opportunity to increase local advertising revenues over the next couple of years, the report doubted this would notably boost retransmission fees and noted that the cost of sports rights could hurt margins. 

“Nexstar and E.W. Scripps could be in unique positions to acquire sports content, given Nexstar's 75% ownership of the CW Network and E.W. Scripp's ownership of the ION Television Network because they fully control those broadcast networks' programming,” the report said. 

More information on accessing the report is available here.  

NORWALK, Conn.—In another example of how telcos and cable operators are working to attract cord-cutters by bunding streaming services with their broadband offerings, Frontier has announced a new partnership with YouTube TV that will bundle the vMVPD’s streaming service with the telco’s fiber broadband offering in a single bill. 

In 2021, Frontier announced a partnership with YouTube TV to give customers the performance of a fiber internet connection and the content of a live TV service. This announcement builds on that by introducing a single billing option.

Frontier internet subs will get $10 a month off of YouTube TV for the first 12 months. 

As more consumers abandoned traditional pay TV packages, cable operators and telcos have increasingly embraced bundles of broadband and streaming services or triple play bundles of broadband, streaming TV and mobile. 

Comcast, for example offers a free package of streaming channels with its broadband services that can be upgraded subscription streaming TV packages and Charter offers cord cutters a service where they can package their broadband service with the local broadcast stations as well as 10 channels of their choosing. The two operators also have a joint venture Xumo where they are developing their own Ruku-like streaming platform. 

The Frontier deal is notable in that it is an early example of a telco partnering with an outside vMVPD to offer a bundled deal for TV and broadband rather than cutting deals directly with programmers to develop an exclusive pay TV package.  

“Our partnership with YouTube TV makes it easier for customers to ditch cable,” said John Harrobin, Frontier’s executive vice president of Consumer. “We take our position as the un-cable provider seriously and are constantly listening to consumers. Many want one source for internet and TV, and that’s what this partnership is all about. With Frontier and YouTube TV, there’s no settling for anything but the best.”

“Frontier is a natural partner for YouTube TV, due to our shared dedication to customer choice and flexibility,” said Tony Archibong, managing director of global product partnerships at YouTube. “With this next stage of our partnership, Frontier customers will be able to sign up and enjoy all the perks of YouTube TV such as unlimited DVR, the ability to watch on any screen, innovative features such as key plays and multiview, special pricing offers for NFL Sunday Ticket and the option to cancel the service at any time, all on the same bill as their Frontier internet.”

DURHAM, NH— Pay TV providers, including cable, satellite and vMVPD companies representing 92% of the market, lost nearly 5.9 million net video subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma loss of about 4.7 million in 2021 according to a new report from Leichtman Research Group.

The top pay-TV providers now account for about 70.2 million subscribers—with the top seven cable companies having about 37.8 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having 24.1 million subscribers, and the top publicly reporting Internet-delivered (vMVPD) pay-TV services having 8.3 million subscribers. 

That number represents a steep drop from LRG’s estimate of 76.1 video subscriptions in 2021. Although cord cutting has gradually increased year over year for the past decade, LRG reported that the trend eased up between 2020 and 2021 when pay TV providers lost 4,690,000 net video subscribers in 2021, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 4,870,000 in 2020. That blip was probably best represented by the fact that more TV was being consumed during the lockdowns imposed by the global pandemic.

Over the past decade, cord cutting has cost pay TV providers more than 25 million video subscribers, according to LRG.  

Key findings for the year include:

• Top cable providers had a net loss of about 3,530,000 video subscribers in 2022, compared to a loss of about 2,695,000 subscribers in 2021
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 2,720,000 subscribers in 2022 – compared to a loss of about 2,890,000 subscribers in 2021
• Top publicly reporting vMVPDs (not including YouTube TV, which does not regularly report results) added about 370,000 subscribers in 2022 – compared to a gain of about 885,000 subscribers in 2021
• Traditional pay-TV services (not including vMVPD) had a net loss of about 6,250,000 subscribers in 2022 – compared to a net loss of about 5,585,000 in 2021

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—In another example of how virtual MVPDs continue to struggle, Dish reported that Sling TV’s subscribers declined by 77,000 to 2.334 million in Q4, 2022 compared to 2.411 million in Q3 and 2.486 million a year earlier in Q4 2021. 

Meanwhile its total pay TV subs declined to 9.750 million in Q4 from 10.018 million in Q3 and 10.707 million in Q4, 2021. 

Its pay TV satellite service sub count declined to 7.416 million in Q4 from 7.607 million in Q3 and 8.221 million a year ago in Q4 2021. 

By way of comparison Dish had 14.1 million satellite pay TV subs in 2010. The current satellite figure is below the 8.18 million subs it had in 2002. 

NEW YORK—The free-ad-supported streaming platform Tubi is reporting rapid growth in its viewing and audiences for 2022, with a 44% bounce in total viewing time, more than 5 billion streaming hours and 64 million monthly average users. 

Tubi’s annual audience report also included survey data showing that 57% of those surveyed plan to cut paid TV and video services and that the average person is looking to cut 3 out of 5 of their existing video services. About 1 in 4 respondents think the future of streaming will include free services with limited ads.

"As subscription costs continue to rise, nearly 1 in 3 streamers plan to reduce spending on streaming services this year," said Mark Rotblat, chief revenue officer, Tubi said in a statement as the streamer issued its annual audience report, “The Stream 2023: Actionable Audience Insights for Brands.” "With consumers turning to AVOD to complement the select SVOD services they choose to keep, Tubi offers a brand-safe environment for advertisers looking to tap into an incremental, young, diverse, and highly engaged streaming audience."

The research also found that Tubi's audience continues to be young and increasingly diverse. African American and LGBT audiences grew over 50% in 2022, and audience growth exceeded 25% in each major level of household income and the Hispanic demo - according to MRI. 

Additionally, Tubi's core younger demographic remains strong - more than 1 in 3 (36%) Tubi streamers are between the ages of 18 and 34. 

Tubi is owned by Fox. 

Other key findings from the report include: 

• Cord cutting continues and CTV ad spend is on the rise: 3 out of 4 consumers agree that AVODs are a practical alternative to cable and satellite TV. As CTV advertising continues to grow, funding isn't just coming from linear budgets - this year significant digital video, social media, OOH, and traditional media dollars shifted to CTV.
• SVODs curbing password sharing may increase churn: 35% of streamers access other people's digital video streaming services and 45% of streamers want to stream without having an account. SVODs aim to curb these losses by charging accounts shared across multiple households, which is expected to increase churn.
• Effective content and recommendations drive viewer satisfaction: Tubi identified five types of streamers in its research. From "recommendation seekers" to "genre-focused browsers," they all share the same 3 drivers of satisfaction: "a good mix" of content, effective recommendations, and seamless navigation. When it comes to ease of use, the bar is higher for AVOD - 34% of streamers expect ease of use in SVODs while it jumps to 59% for FAST/AVOD.
• Viewers prefer light ad loads and standard ad formats: 51% of streamers are satisfied with 6 minutes of ads per hour. While streaming services experiment with new ad formats, Tubi found that standard video ads are currently preferred by streamers over other formats such as split screen, interactive, or QR code ads.
• Diverse and unreachable audiences drive AVOD spend: As advertisers evaluate the state of streaming TV, more ad dollars are being dedicated to streaming buys than ever before - 4 out of 5 advertisers now regard advertising on streaming television as highly valuable. Growth in monthly active users, the presence of otherwise hard to reach young and multicultural streamers, and the ability to reach hard to find audiences were cited as key drivers for AVOD ad spend.

In its latest quarterly earnings report, Charter Communications said it lost 145,000 cable TV subscribers, more than double the 71,000 who cut the cord in the same quarter a year ago. Broadband subscription growth slowed as well, with the company reporting a gain of 105,000 in combined residential and business subscribers, down from 172,000 in new subscribers a year ago. 

Overall net income was $1.2 billion,  26% lower than the $1.6 billion, reported for the same period a year ago. Revenue was up with $13.7 billion, an increase of 3.5%, while net income was $1.2 billion, a 26% drop from the $1.6 billion logged in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues for its video division fell to $4.3 billion, down 3.5% compared to a year ago while internet subscription revenues were $5.6 billion, an increase of 3.9%. 

A big initiative during the quarter was the launch of Spectrum One, which bundled Charter’s Spectrum Internet, Advanced WiFi and Unlimited Spectrum Mobile services. The company reported a healthy growth of 615,000 new mobile lines, compared to 380,000 added a year ago. Mobile revenue totaled $876 million, an increase of 38.7% year-over-year, driven by mobile line growth, according to Charter.

Programming costs decreased by $95 million, down 3.3% compared to a year ago, a reflection the company says of fewer video customers and existing video subscribers opting for lower cost bundles, the company said.

Despite the disappointing results, CEO Chris Winfrey was optimistic about the next 12 months. 

"We continued to execute well in 2022, growing customer relationships, revenue and EBITDA," he said. "In 2023 and the coming years, we remain focused on three core initiatives — network evolution, footprint expansion and operational execution. Each of these initiatives will deliver benefits for a growing base of customers, our employees and local communities, with long-term value creation for our shareholders."  

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—DirecTV said this week that is laying off approximately 10% of its managerial staff, citing a downturn in subscriptions as more viewers cut the cord from pay TV.

“The entire pay-TV industry is impacted by the secular decline and the increasing rates to secure and distribute programming,” the company said in a statement. “We’re adjusting our operations costs to align with these changes and will continue to invest in new entertainment products and service enhancements.”

DirecTV has about 10,000 employees in total, according to credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, making it the third largest pay-TV provider in the U.S., behind Comcast and Charter.

While DirecTV, which was spun off from AT&T in 2021, no longer releases subscription numbers, it reportedly lost a half million subscribers in Q3 2022, according to Fitch, which said the downturn in subscriptions to the satellite provider have recently accelerated. DirecTV currently has approximately 13.3 million subscribers. 

DirecTV has been focusing more on its streaming service DirecTV Stream, which was rebranded from its U-Verse service last year. Although it still has a considerably small number of subscribers, a report from MoffetNathanson last year indicated that it had a 175% increase in streaming minutes.

The layoffs come at a particularly challenging time for the company, which on Sunday, broadcast its final NFL Sunday Ticket service. Starting in the 2023-2024 season that popular out-of-market service is moving to Google’s YouTube TV and YouTube Premium Channel in a $2B annual deal. 

Cord-cutting has accelerated in recent years—last month, MoffetNathanson reported that the trend hit new records in Q3 2022, with total pay TV distribution declining by 6.3%. 

NEW YORK—The big media buying company GroupM is predicting that all U.S. pay TV providers will reach fewer than one half of all U.S. homes by 2025. 

The projection is part of the company’s annual advertising forecast, which is also predicting that connected TV advertising will make up nearly one third of all U.S. TV advertising by 2027.

The GroupM forecast is predicting 6.5% global growth in advertising excluding U.S. political advertising for 2023, with global traditional TV advertising declining by 0.9% to $134.6 billion in 2023, while connected TV advertising showing a 18% pop to $23.2 billion and total TV/video advertising increasing by 1.5% to $157.8 billion around the world. 

The forecast noted that “the U.S. economy has proved fairly resilient” and has not tipped into recession.  “Currently, we expect connected TVs to grow double-digits over the next four years and make up nearly a third of all TV advertising revenue by 2027,” the report noted.  

In explaining its prediction that pay TV penetration will fall below 50% in 2025, GroupM noted that “In the U.S. in the closing months of 2022, streaming providers have claimed virtually all the most watched TV programs other than live sports, which is still dominated by linear networks and cable channels. But as Apple, Amazon and other non-traditional players enter the market for sports rights even this last passion of linear viewership won’t be guaranteed. Sports alone certainly haven’t been enough to stem the losses of video customers from cable and satellite providers.”

After reporting record declines in pay TV subscriptions in Q2, 2022, MoffettNathanson’s Cord-Cutting Monitor has released new data showing that cord-cutting hit new records in Q3 2022, when total pay TV distribution declined by 6.3%. 

The drop in pay TV subs was slightly worse than the 6.2% slide seen in Q2 and the 5.2% decline seen a year ago in Q3 2022. 

MoffettNathan's definition of pay TV includes both traditional cable and satellite operators as well as newer vMVPDs like Fubo TV and YouTube TV. 

To put this in perspective, MoffettNathanson reported that the “Q3 loss of 655K subscribers is the largest third quarter loss ever; last year’s loss was…617K and the year before just 91K” in Q3 2020. 

“The decline in Q3 leaves pay TV penetration of occupied households including vMVPDs at 61.0% of households, a level last seen in 1993, a year before the arrival of satellite TV in the U.S.,” the researchers explain. 

While broadcasters may view this as a trend reaffirming the value of their over-the-air broadcasts, it also promises to create some serious financial problems for stations, which in recent years have relied heavily on retransmission consent payments from pay TV providers.

BIA has predicted that subscriber fees from retransmission consent agreements will increase from $14.55 billion in 2022 to $17.37 billion in 2030, growth that will be difficult to maintain if the pay TV ecosystem continues to collapse.

This also means that there are now about 34 million incremental homes that “exist entirely outside the cable network ecosystem,” and that the total number is 55 million, MoffettNathanson said. 

The growth of homes outside the pay TV ecosystem could also create problems for local and national broadcast TV advertising, which is already under pressure from streaming, by reducing potential audiences for programming. 

Historically, the rise of pay TV helped expand the reach of broadcast content, which in turn helped their advertising efforts in reaching larger audiences. 

More recently declining pay TV subscriptions have been coupled with higher levels of homes using TV antennas. Nielsen reported in Q4 2021 that 18.6 million homes used antennas, or 15% of the population. 

But those numbers are still much lower than the 55 million homes Moffett Nathanson said are now outside the pay TV ecosystem of both traditional pay TV cable operators and newer vMVPDs like Hulu Live or Sling TV.   

DURHAM, N.H.—The biggest U.S. pay-TV providers together lost about 785,000 subscribers in the third quarter, an increase in the loss from Q3 2021 when 650,000 households dropped their subscription, according to Leichtman Research Group (LRG).

These top providers, which represent about 92% of the market, now account for 71.4 million subscribers. Of those, the top seven cable companies have about 38.6 million video subscribers. Other pay-TV services have about 24.8 million subscribers, and the top publicly reporting internet-delivered pay-TV services have more than 8 million, the research organization said.

Other Leichtman findings:

• The top cable providers had a net loss of 980,000 video subscribers in Q3 2022 compared to a decline of 700,000 from the same quarter last year.
• Other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 700,000 for the quarter, a drop of 70,000 more subscribers compared to Q3 2021.
• The top publicly reporting vMVPDs added about 900,000 in the quarter, up 220,000 from the same quarter last year.

“Spurred by a strong quarter from internet-delivered vMVPD services, pay-TV net losses of about 785,000 in 3Q 2022 were more modest than in the first two quarters of the year,” said Bruce Leichtman, LRG president and principal analyst. “Not including YouTube TV, which does not regularly report subscriber totals, vMVPDs had nearly 900,000 net additions in the quarter. This was the third most quarterly net adds ever for the top publicly reporting vMVPD services.”

More information is available on the research group’s website. 

DURHAM, N.H.—The number of U.S. TV households with access to live pay-TV, whether via cable, satellite, Telco or an internet vMVPD subscription, has dropped to 66%, down from 88% a decade ago, according to the findings of new research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG).

The findings also highlight ongoing worries about the future of the pay TV industry in that one third of the respondents (34%) reported that they had never had a pay TV service.

“Two-thirds of U.S. TV households now get a live pay-TV service, a significant decrease from 79% five years ago,” said Bruce Leichtman, LRG president and principal analyst. “The decline in pay-TV subscribers is not solely a function of those disconnecting services but is also related to a slowdown in those entering or reentering the category.”

The research shows non-subscribers to pay-TV services fall into three similar-sized groups based upon their prior pay-TV subscription. About 31% on non-subscribers last had a pay-TV service within the past three years; 35%, over three years ago; and 34% never had a pay-TV services. Of those never having a subscription, 52% are aged 18 to 34, according to the findings.

The research also revealed:

• 73% of 45-year-old and older adults have a pay-TV service compared to 57% of those 18 to 44 years old
• 46% of those who have moved within the past year do not have a pay-TV service, which is higher than in previous years
• 73% of three-or-more-TV households have a pay-TV service; 65% of two-TV households subscribe; and 52% of single-TV households have a subscription to a pay-TV service
• The mean household income of those with subscriptions is 11% higher than the mean income of households without subscriptions
• 13% of pay-TV subscribers say they are likely to switch from their current provider in the next six months, compared to 14% in 2020 and 13% in 2017

The findings are based on a survey of 1,850 U.S. households. They are part of LRG’s “Pay-TV in the U.S. 2022” annual study, the firm’s 20th such study. The survey was conducted in September. The survey sample included 1,235 online respondents and 615 phone respondents.

The overall sample has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.3%. The online sample used exclusively for some questions has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.8%. 

More information is available on the LRG website.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish Network reported Q2 2022 earnings that marked a new low in its video subscriber counts with its pay TV satellite and video customers dropping below 10 million for the first time since June of 2004. 

In Q2, 2022, Dish TV satellite subscribers fell by 202,000 to 7,791,000 while the Sling TV virtual MVPD dropped 55,000 subs to 2,197,000 subscribers for a total of 9,988 million, down from 10,245 million in Q1, 2022.

The company also reported loses in its wireless operations with wireless subs falling by 210,000 to 7,867,000.

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast generally beat Wall Street estimates in its Q2 2022 earnings release. But it also reported over 1 million video sub losses in the first half of 2022, with 520,000 video sub losses in Q2, and it posted disappointing results for its streaming operations. 

Paid subs for its streaming service Peacock were flat 13 million and losses rose to $467 million. 

Even so, distribution revenue for its NBCU media group increased 8.4%, driven by increases at Peacock and contractual rate increases, partially offset by a decline in subscribers at its networks, the company reported. 

The media results included $444 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $467 million related to Peacock, compared to $122 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA6 loss of $363 million in the prior year period.

Overall, the company has gained 166,000 customers in the first half of the year but lost 28,000 in Q2. Broadband customers were essentially flat in Q2 compared to Q1 2022, remaining at about 32.1 million, but were up 2.5% compared to a year earlier.  

“Our financial results in the second quarter were very strong across the board, with Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky each delivering solid growth in adjusted EBITDA, resulting in a double-digit increase in adjusted earnings per share and healthy free cash flow generation. commented Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation. “Significantly we accomplished this while also continuing to invest in our businesses’ future growth, increasing our return of capital to our shareholders, and keeping our balance sheet in a great place. In Cable, we achieved our highest adjusted EBITDA margin on record even amid a unique and evolving macroeconomic environment that is temporarily putting pressure on the volume of our new customer connects. At NBCUniversal, terrific results at theme parks fueled our growth in the quarter, and we expect our recent premieres and planned slate of content and live events from our media and studios businesses, including Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Nope, Sunday Night Football and The World Cup, to make significant contributions later this year, including to our subscriber growth at Peacock.” 

DURHAM, N.H.—New consumer research from the Leichtman Research Group is reporting ongoing drops in pay TV penetration, with only 71% of TV households nationwide having some form of pay-TV service in 2021. 

That marks a significant five year decline from the 82% penetration rate in 2016 and an even bigger 10 year decline from 87% in 2011. 

The declines were even worse among younger demos. In 2021 among TV households, 64% of adults aged 18-44 and 77% of those older than 45 had a pay-TV service; in contrast 77% of adults ages 18-44 and 86% of ages 45+ had a pay-TV service in 2016. 

This has also resulted in a massive change in the way video is delivered into TVs in the home. The Leichtman survey found that 37% of all TV sets in use have a traditional pay-TV providers’ set-top box – compared to 58% in 2016

“The percent of U.S. TV households with a live pay-TV service significantly declined from 82% to 71% over the past five years,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc.  “The penetration of pay-TV remains lowest among younger adults and the categories that they tend to populate, including movers and renters.” 

The new report also found that:  

• 41% of those that moved in the past year do not currently have a pay-TV service – a higher level than in previous years.
• 35% of renters do not have a pay-TV service – compared to 25% of homeowners.
• 30% of pay-TV non-subscribers last had a pay-TV service within the past 3 years, 36% last had a pay-TV service >3 years ago, and 34% never had a pay-TV service.
• 54% of pay-TV non-subscribers that never had a service are ages 18-34 – while 28% of non-subscribers that formerly had pay-TV are in that age range.
• 26% of adults agree that it is OK to use a friend’s log-in passwords to watch live TV, including 40% of ages 18-34.

These findings are part of a new LRG study, “Pay-TV in the U.S. 2021.”  

“Pay-TV in the U.S. 2021” is based on a survey of 2,000 adults aged 18+ from throughout the U.S.  The random sample of respondents was distributed and weighted to best reflect the demographic and geographic make-up of the U.S.  The survey, conducted in September-October 2021, included a sample of about 1,200 online and about 800 via telephone (including landline and cell phone calls).  The overall sample has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.2%.  The online sample used exclusively for some questions has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.8%.

More information about the report is available at www.LeichtmanResearch.com.

NEW YORK—Video cord cutting and the migration of consumers to streaming video services will significantly reduce revenue for pay TV operators over the next few years, according to Kagan, the TMT research unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

It’s latest forecast for cable, direct broadcast satellite and telco multichannel revenue predicts that their sales will dip from $91.1 billion in 2021 to $64.7 billion by 2025, producing nearly $33.6 billion in lost annual revenue that operators will have to recover from other sources. 

In a longer term perspective, Kagan’s data shows that multichannel video revenues hit a peak of $116.9 billion in 2016, which would mean the industry will have lost nearly half (45%) of its annual revenue by 2025. 

While all three major platforms are feeling the impact from the shift, “the magnitude of the losses are expected to hit more acutely for DBS and telco revenue subtotals amid waning commitments by major players and relative stability from the large cable providers,” the report said. 

More information on the report is available here. 

ADDISON, Texas—Many consumers who dropped their traditional pay TV services are finding that they can still face some hefty monthly bills for OTT services, with new research from Parks Associates reporting that cord-cutters are spending $85 a month on average for OTT services. 

That is roughly $30 less than what they were paying for pay TV services, according to Park’s "Cutters, Nevers, and the Rebundling of Video" research report. 

The report examines consumer trends in unbundling video services and the recent phenomena of consumers rebundling their service portfolio because of a fragmented video content marketplace.

“Cost concerns drove many consumers away from traditional pay TV, and OTT services are delivering on the promise that they can offer desired video content at a considerably lower price point,” said Elizabeth Parks, president, Parks Associates. “But we find 47% of cord-cutters subscribe to four or more OTT services, so in order to have an optimal video portfolio, they are creating their own video bundles by stacking OTT services.”

Cord-cutters currently spend nearly twice as much monthly on OTT services as cord-nevers, according to Parks. 

It estimates that there are more than six million cord-nevers, US broadband households who have never subscribed to traditional TV who are also less likely to own key streaming video products such as smart TVs and streaming media players. 

By contrast, 58% of cord-cutters own a smart TV, which is roughly equivalent to the national average, so cord-cutters demonstrate an affinity to video content and services that make them a valuable segment for providers to target.

“As they migrate away from traditional pay TV, cord-cutters seek service offerings that more closely meet their video content needs with the added value of flexibility at a lower cost,” Parks said. “OTT services have to continually deliver flexibility and customization at a reasonable cost to keep these subscribers engaged and retain them on an ongoing basis.”

For more information on “Cutters, Nevers, and the Rebundling of Video” report visit www.parksassociates.com.  

Despite a recent projection that cord cutting will accelerate significantly over the next 24 months, the top five publicly traded pay-TV companies lost 22.3% fewer video customers in Q1 than they did in the first three months of 2020. 

Comcast, Charter Communications, AT&T, Dish Network and Verizon combined to lose 1,561,000 video customers in Q1 vs. 2,011,000 in the same period of 2020. 

For the most part, video losses for each of these companies were worse, or largely the same, save for one operator, AT&T. That telecom lost 897,000 customers across its DirecTV satellite and U-verse “premium” platforms in the first quarter of last year, and another 138,000 from virtual MVPD AT&T TV Now. Most of the losses came in satellite TV.

In January, February and March of 2021, AT&T lost a combined 620,000 across DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV—the latter service, launched in April of last year, having subsumed AT&T TV Now. AT&T is in the process of spinning off a portion of its pay-TV assets to private equity firm TPG. 

Among cable operators, Comcast saw its Xfinity TV losses accelerate to 491,000 vs. 409,000 in the first quarter of 2020, while Charter Communications saw losses expand from 70,000 to 138,000, first quarter vs. first quarter. 

In satellite, Dish Network saw flat linear customer recession of 132,000 users, but experienced improved subscriber losses for its Sling TV vMVPD, which lost only 100,000 customers vs. 280,000 in Q1 2021. 

Among telcos, Verizon’s 82,000 lost Fios TV souls were largely flat with the 84,000 shed in Q1 2020, but the company retracted to overall customer levels (3.7 million) not seen in 10 years.

This analysis leaves out a range of smaller cable companies, Altice USA, Mediacom and Cable One.  Also not included are major virtual MVPD operators Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. 

NEW YORK—To predict that pay-TV subscribers numbers will continue to drop as streaming services and other direct-to-consumer services entice people to cut the cord is not a reach, but S&P Global Marketing Intelligence takes it a step further saying that the loss of pay-TV over the next few years will negatively impact the U.S. TV sector’s credit quality.

The rate of pay-TV subscription loses, while still worse than 2019 (7.3%), slowed in 2020 (7.9%), thanks in large part to a dip in the second half of 2020. However, S&P estimates subscription losses will return to the levels they were in the first half of 2020.

The cable sector is projected to see a loss rate of 6.6% of its subscriptions in 2021, which is up from 4.6% in 2020. Larger cable operators are seeing a two point increase from 3.8% to 5.8% year-over-year. Midsize (9% to 10%) and small operators (actually seeing a marginally  smaller rate of loss, from 10.8% to 10.5%) will not move the needle as much. All of those numbers are expected to remain steady into 2022.

S&P believes that this increased pace is likely to continue because the cable sector is “increasingly indifferent as to whether unprofitable customers get their video service from cable companies or a third-party service.”

Satellite’s rate of losses are expected to decrease, according to S&P, having been at 11.2% in 2020 and a projection of 10.1% in 2021 and 10% in 2022. It credits Dish’s focus on key rural subscribers, but S&P questions the long-term sustainability of this trend. Things like rate increases and churn could impact it as life normalizes.

DirecTV, meanwhile, which plays in more urban and suburban markets, has not leveled off as S&P had originally thought it might, maintaining its 15% pace of subscriber loss.

Then there’s Telco. Despite several Telcos offering cloud-based TV services, S&P estimates that its rate of subscribers losses will jump from 13.7% in 2021 to more than 38% in 2022, as many companies could be content to let their video customers churn over the next few years.

One bright spot for pay-TV in recent years has been the emergence of virtual pay-TV entrants, like YouTube TV and Sling TV. Still, S&P does not see these vMVPD services as long-term solutions for pay-TV. When first launched, many of these services offered low-priced, slimmed down offerings, but they are growing to become more like traditional pay-TV packages and the prices are starting to rise in reflection of that; i.e., YouTube TV’s price hike the last couple years.

These services should be able to continue growing over the next few years, however, because they do not require any equipment fees or contracts, S&P says. They do though have a greater monthly churn and their revenue streams are more volatile because of this, as well as the fact that some people sign up seasonally depending on things like sports.

Pay-TV’s decline could accelerate if sports make a stronger push toward streaming. The NFL, as part of its most recent broadcast rights deal, gave exclusive programming to Amazon and networks like CBS (Paramount+), ESPN (ESPN+) and NBC (Peacock) will offer some of their NFL games on the streaming platforms. If or when more sports follow suit, it could hasten the cutting of traditional linear TV subscriptions.

Also, the expansion of broadband into more rural areas will help make streaming options more viable for those markets, also contributing to greater adoption of streaming services.

While certain broadcast TV elements like local TV and broadcast networks will help to keep traditional pay-TV key to many consumers, and can differ depending on the broadcast sector, the current rate of cord-cutting is an overall negative for the entire TV media sector’s credit quality, S&P concludes.

Last summer I started splitting residences between North Georgia and North Alabama and decided that I would “cut the cord” in Decatur, Ala., because my internet connection was at least a 1,000% improvement over my DSL-barely usable AT&T internet in Gainesville, Ga. As all of you know DSL is over copper phone lines and after 8,000 feet of poorly maintained copper wire, the data stream in Georgia was slow.

I set up shop in Decatur, ordered my coax internet service and bought my first streaming device. I checked my internet speed, plugged my new streaming device into my Sony 4K television and then tuned into a 4K streaming channel. To my surprise the picture and sound was out of sync.

As a sound guy I am particularly annoyed by lip sync, which is not hard to find anywhere you look these days. We experience sound lagging behind visuals in the real world because the speed of light is significantly faster than the speed of sound. Many knowledgeable engineers would say that lip sync issues started with the digital age, but I first experienced a lip sync issue in the analog world.

TRAVELING TWO PATHS

Often audio sync issues begin when audio and video are traveling down two different paths. I first encountered out-of-sync audio and pictures in the early days of wireless cameras in the NASCAR pits. The video went one way; the audio went another way and after a couple of frame syncs on the cameras there was clearly a sync issue.

In the good old days of analog, audio and video issues were obvious and usually easily fixed because the audio was often ahead of the picture and quality-sounding analog audio delays were relatively cheap, plentiful, sounded good and were in the OB van—plus CRT screens were an excellent reference for lip sync.

There is no doubt that digital audio solved and caused many audio problems. Video is compressed to reduce the data per frame, which maintains a unique sequence of pictures. Audio is a continuous signal and is compressed separately from the video. The next time I began to see sync issues were with mismatched sampling rates. In every single piece of digital equipment and editing software there are menus for sampling rates and operation for sampling rate conversions. If there is a mismatch, expect a sync issue.

There are a host of reasons and places where the audio and the video can get out of sync, but ultimately it becomes the problem of the broadcaster or steaming service. As broadcast professionals we must keep an eye on sync because in the broadcasting world there is digital processing that happens all along the workflow, from remote operations to transmission, which can result in a cumulative delay effect. We can only make sure that the audio and video is in sync when it goes to the transmitter. But let’s face it; so much video is consumed through an internet connection and I can safely say that will not change.

Data compression and corrupt data-related problems are prevalent on the internet and this significantly affects the quality of our sacred broadcast product—content. Digital over-the-air television seems to have fewer audio problems, but I am guessing that the few broadcast engineers that are left out there are taking care of large network operations plants and antennas. I have often thought that there has been a huge influx of people with a computer mindset where problem solving has devolved to a hard shutdown and reboot.

STREAMING MEANS BUFFERING

Cutting the cord has been a learning experience where I quickly found out that streaming means buffering. With my DirectTV in Georgia I did not encounter buffering issues, which either stops the stream or decreases the quality of the audio and video to compensate for a reduced data stream. In Alabama I have measured the data stream and my internet averages between 80 and 100 Mbps, which adequately covers 4K video for most of my viewing pleasures—but I can still have buffering delays. And buffering can complicate sync problems. It’s a processing thing.

As I have discovered, I have all the specs, but still encounter buffering. On the consumer side there can be problems with streaming services, internet connection, browsers or audio/video device drivers and interconnect cables; or all of the above can cause audio and video sync problems. Chasing down these problems can be incredibly daunting for the average consumer and taking the chance that you would call customer service and get someone on the line to tell them you have a glitch, the pat answer is unplug, wait a minute and reboot.

Another issue that is particularly annoying is the occasional repeat, missing word or upcut word that occurs when watching TV. I reached out to a friend and TV Tech contributor Jim DeFilippis, who said that some of the bumps and jumps are due to buffers in the transmission path.

If the transmission is error-free and there is no lost or damaged data, everything is fine but often the data is corrupted and lost. If there is a video loss the decoder jumps a frame or repeats a frame of video, but the audio can’t jump ahead so sometimes audio gets repeated or words get cut out or upcut.

If the audio data is then damaged over time, the audio and video drift apart and, ideally, when the A/V delay reaches objectionable tolerances the decoder should reset the buffer and start over. If for some reason the buffer does not reset then lip sync will persist until a reset.

The ATSC 3.0 specifies that the audio and video are embedded together and this is where I think the old saying fits: “It is fine leaving here” applies. As professional broadcast engineers we already know that there are a lot of things that can go wrong with audio sync.

Audio delay is everywhere and audio sync must start from the beginning to the end. Broadcast engineers understand tolerances of acceptance but many of them have retired. Perhaps they should come back and teach a couple of things to the computer jocks.

Dennis Baxter has spent over 35 years in live broadcasting contributing to hundreds of live events including sound design for nine Olympic Games. He has earned multiple Emmy Awards and is the author of “A Practical Guide to Television Sound Engineering,” published in both English and Chinese. He is currently working on a book about immersive sound practices and production. He can be reached at dbaxter@dennisbaxtersound.com or at www.dennisbaxtersound.com.

NEW YORK—Nearly 7.2 million traditional multichannel (MVPD) subscribers opted to cancel their subscriptions in 2020, according to a recent report from Kagan, an S&P Global Market Intelligence media research group.

The 7.2 million combines traditional cable, telco and satellite pay-TV services. According to Kagan, at the end of 2020, only 57% of U.S. occupied households only had a traditional MVPD service. That number is better when combined with a virtual MVPD, with about two-thirds (66.6%) of households having a traditional service and a vMVPD, though that is still down from 2019.

The growth of vMVPD helped mitigate the number of people that dropped live linear channel packages, with 2.7 million new subscribers, but it was not enough to offset traditional MVPDs losses.

MVPD losses did slow in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a total subscription loss of 1.5 million, but vMVPD did not maintain its momentum from the third quarter, per Kagan, netting 223,000.

“[T]he full year decline underscored that the impacts of the pandemic amplified cord-cutting instead of insulating an industry built around home entertainment,” said Kagan.

For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence.