US top 10 TV providers lost 200k subs in Q1

The top 10 TV service providers in the US lost over 200,000 customers between them in Q1 2018, according to Informitv’s Multiscreen Index.

According to the research outfit, there were 373,000 fewer satellite subscribers and 245,000 fewer cable TV customers among the top 10 US providers at the end of the quarter. Over the same period. Online TV services DirecTV Now and Sling, gained 427,000 customers, meaning that the net overall loss of pay TV customers was 0.25%.

DirecTV lost 188,000 DTH subscribers. AT&T U-verse maintained a stable base, and DirecTV Now’s 336,000 online additions took the total for that service to 1.42 million, giving AT&T an overall net gain of 149,000, according to Informitv.

DTH operator Dish Network lost 185,000 satellite television subscribers, taking its total down to 10.85 million, but added 91,000 Sling TV customers. It now has 2.30 million online television customers, making it the eighth largest television service in the country, just behind Optimum cable, according to the research group.

Comcast lost 93,000 customers, while Charter Spectrum lost 122,000. Verizon FioS lost 22,000 customers in the same period, while Altice USA lost 23,000 Optimum TV customers and 7,000 Suddenlink customers.

Among other service providers, Frontier Communications dropped out of the top 10 after losing 27,1000 TV customers. Cox Communications is not included in the list because it does not report subscriber numbers.

Overall, the top 10 services in the index have just over 84 million TV customers between them, accounting for 70% of TV homes.