According to SNL Kagan, the U.S. multichannel pay TV segment produced a drop in third-quarter video customers that was slightly worse year-over-year (YOY). SNL Kagan estimates the combined cable, direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) and telecommunications (telco) sectors lost 430,000 video customers during the period. DBS ended in positive territory, but telco again weighed heavily on the multichannel universe. Meanwhile, the cable sector continues to show progress in mitigating losses.
For the space, the third-quarter decline brings the year-to-date drop to 1.3 million, the largest ever through the first nine months of the year.
Other findings indicate:
- Cable operators lost 94,000 total video customers: the platform's best third-quarter performance since 2006. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the sector cut the 2015 decline in half. For the interval, this is the industry's best results since 2007.
- DBS gained 46,000 subscribers, benefiting from AT&T's strategic shift away from U-verse and toward DirecTV. The segment now is in position to deliver gains for the year.
- The planned wind-down of AT&T U-verse continues to pressure telco subscriptions, down an aggregate 382,000 in the third quarter. Year-to-date, multichannel video subscribers served by the telco segment are down nearly 1.2 million.
- Factoring in the estimated 925,000 customers for DISH Network's Sling TV service, the trailing 12-month multichannel decline is reduced to 822,000.