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State of the Screens

Cord cutting accelerates as pay TV loses 1 million customers in largest-ever quarterly loss

By November 13, 2018No Comments

Pay-TV subscriber growth in 2018-Q3 according to MoffettNathanson:
1)
Traditional pay-TV — ↓ 1.1M
2)
Streaming pay-TV — ↑ 414K
3)
Total pay-TV — ↓ 709K

Quote from Steve Burke– CEO @ NBCUniversal:
“the growth of the virtual MVPDs is starting to plateau, at least in the last month.”

Traditional pay-TV growth by quarter:
1)
2018-Q3 — ↓ 1.1M
2)
2018-Q2 — ↓ 415K
3)
2018-Q1 — ↓ 305K

Findings from a recent survey by Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult:
1) 56%
say cable TV is unaffordable
2) 90% say cost is the most important factor

Watch: Most Americans Consider Cable TV “Unaffordable,” Finds ‘THR’/Morning Consult Poll

Flashback: Who Killed the Great American Cable-TV Bundle?

Traditional pay-TV subscribers by year according to Bloomberg Intelligence:
1) 2012–100.6M
2)
2013–100.4M
3)
2014–99.9M
4)
2015–98.5M
5)
2016–96.5M
6)
2017–95.2M

The average cable bill has risen to $106.20 per month.

Source of pay-TV:
1) Cable — 52%
2) Satellite — 34%
3) Phone — 10%
4) Streaming — 4%

More #1: ‘People just aren’t seeing the value’: Pay TV’s worst quarter on record could be the start of a terrible new trend

More #2: Hanging on by a Cord

More #3: Pay TV and SVOD co-exist. Time for them to co-habit.

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.