Adding an estimated 600,000 customers in the third quarter, YouTube TV ended September with around 6.5 million customers, according to Leichtman Research Group’s quarterly tally of the top pay TV operators serving 96% of the U.S. market. 

LRG’s user-base estimate for YouTube TV seems light to us — another research group, Antenna, just projected that the Alphabet/Google platform has around 7.3 million customers — but either way, it pushed the overall virtual MVPD category past a notable milestone. 

With Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo all adding customers in Q3, the vMVPD category now controls, for the first time, more than 20% of U.S. pay TV customers.

Google/Alphabet doesn't often break out numbers for its six-year-old YouTube TV service, but depending on whose tally you believe, the vMVPD may have already surpassed Dish satellite TV as America's fourth largest pay TV platform. 

Many U.S. tier 2 and tier 3 cable operators have given up on offering their core broadband customer base unprofitable linear video and instead are directing these customers to YouTube TV under marketing partnership agreements. 

Likewise, during its nearly two-week blackout of ESPN in early September, Charter Communications also directed its football-hungry subs to YouTube TV. 

Meanwhile, LRG’s quarterly pay TV tally includes another key estimate, with DirecTV platforms said to have lost another 500,000 subscribers in Q3. 

The top seven U.S. cable companies collectively lost nearly 981,674  pay TV customers in the third quarter, according to estimates and tallies collected by Leichtman Research Group (LRG).

Overall, these same seven MSOs lost nearly 8% of their combined video customer base from Oct. 1, 2021 - Sept. 30, 2022, led by Comcast, which shed Xfinity TV subs at a 10.6% clip over that span (our math, not LRG's).

However, the heavy linear pay TV losses in Q3 were offset by the biggest growth quarter for virtual MVPDs in two years, with Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV and fuboTV combining to add 898,265 customers from July - September.

Google doesn't often break out customer growth for market leader YouTube TV, and LRG doesn't hazard estimates for the platform in its quarterly report on the state of pay TV cord-cutting. But assuming YouTube TV grew like the rest of the market did, the vMVPD sector just had its best quarter since Q3 of the pandemic 2020 frame.

Officially, LRG said it was the third biggest growth quarter for vMVPDs ever, trailing only the third quarters of 2020 and 2019. Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and fuboTV -- the vMVPDs that LRG does count -- have collectively grown their customer bases by around 7% over the last 12 months. Going back two years, however, the growth rate for these three companies comes in at just under 4% (again, our math).

Meanwhile, in U.S. pay TV, linear losses remained steep beyond cable.

Dish Network lost another 184,000 satellite TV customers. And LRG once again estimated that DirecTV lost 400,000 customers across DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-verse TV. (Note that LRG has been estimating quarterly losses of 400,000 for DirecTV since it was spun off from AT&T last year and disappeared from public view.)

Collectively, the top 13 U.S. pay TV companies -- minus Google -- represent 92% of the market and lost a combined 784,409 customers in the third quarter, vs. 653,616 in the third quarter of last year.

Cord cutting isn't getting much worse, but it's sure not getting better, either. 

The 14 largest U.S. pay TV operators lost a combined 1.955 million subscribers in the first quarter, only slightly more than their combined pro forma net loss of 1.91 million in the first quarter of 2021, and 1.96 million in 1Q 2020, according to quarterly figures released by Leichtman Research Group (LRG).

“Over the past year, top pay TV providers had a net loss of about 4,735,000 subscribers, similar to a loss of about 4,820,000 over the prior year," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG.

LRG's quarterly cord cutting report covers cable, satellite, telco and vMVPD operators covering about 93% of the U.S., most of them publicly traded. 

For a few non-publicly effacing operators, LRG makes informed estimates. For example, the research company tallied 300,000 lost customers for DirecTV, an operation taken off AT&T's SEC-scrutinized books last year when it was spun off in a JV with private equity. DirecTV not only includes the legacy satellite TV operation, but also vMVPD DirecTV Stream and AT&T U-verse TV. 

The LRG estimate is a marked improvement for the DirecTV holdings. 

AT&T's "premium" TV services lost a combined 620,000 in the first quarter of 2021, while they were still included in the wireless company's quarterly earnings reports. 

Also estimated is No. 3 cable operator Cox Communications. LRG projects the privately held Atlanta MSO to have lost around 80,000 video customers in the quarter. 

Notably excluded: YouTube TV. Parent company Alphabet doesn't break out the virtual pay TV service's numbers, and LRG doesn't provide estimates for it. 

Virtual MVPDs lost 507,562 in Q1 vs. a loss of around 265,000 in the first quarter of 2021. 

Just because DirecTV's subscriber growth metrics are now shielded from public view doesn't mean they're not still terrible. 

According to Leichtman Research Group (LRG), the pay TV provider that was spun off from AT&T lost an estimated 400,000 customers in the fourth quarter, finishing 2021 with less than 15 million subscribers (around 14.6 million). 

Estimating the final two quarters of 2021 following AT&T's spinoff of DirecTV Holdings to private equity firm TPG, LRG said that DirecTV satellite TV, the IP-based DirecTV Stream and the legacy AT&T U-verse TV combined to lose more than 1.9 million customers last year. 

Of course, for those of you who are still keeping score amid the U.S. pay TV business's drain-circling, the DirecTV grouping lost over 3 million subscribers in 2020. 

Combined, LRG said the top operators representing 95% of U.S. pay TV homes lost around 4.7 million customers in 2021, better than the more than 5.1 million they bled out in 2020. 

Some cable operators, like Charter Communications, actually grew their traditional pay TV ranks in 2020, with quarantined consumers madly paying for video service along with high-speed internet they so desperately needed. 

But that didn't happen as much in 2021, with the top seven MSOs combining to lose nearly 2.7 million customers vs. just over 1.9 million in 2020. 

Virtual MVPD fuboTV -- a subject of equity analyst whippings of late -- experienced the linear pay TV sector's biggest growth, adding a net 581,000 subscribers in 2021. ■

While Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told investors Monday that the cable industry has little to worry about from emerging fixed wireless access (FWA) services, he may want to look again.

While Leitchman Research Group released figures Monday suggesting that the top seven cable operators controlled around 95% of the net home broadband additions in 2021, a closer look at LRG's data suggests the wireless giants made significant progress in reanimating their previously moribund home internet business. 

Last year, the telco industry added 148,000 high-speed internet users vs. just 39.5 million net adds in 2020. Factor out the still heavy losses of DSL customers, and subscribers using other older internet technologies, and the telco sector's growth numbers look much better. 

Telcos added a net of 1.8 million fiber customers in 2021, with AT&T (120,000 net broadband customers) returning to the black and Verizon also up over 2020 (+236,000 vs. +173,000).

Meanwhile, Leichtman's tally leaves out fixed wireless gains by T-Mobile (+546,000) and Verizon (+173,000). In all, the three top wireless companies -- T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T -- added more than 1 million home internet customers in 2021, combining fiber with FWA.

Cable operators still controlled 70% of the U.S. home internet market last year and added 2.8 million net customers in 2021. However, that is significantly less than the 4,819,371 customers they added in the pandemic year of 2020.

“The top broadband providers added significantly fewer subscribers in 2021 than in 2020, but the net adds in 2021 were higher than in each year from 2016-2019," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG in a statement. ■

Around 50% of U.S. households with fixed internet access consume online video daily, up from 29% in 2014 and 16% in 2009, according to new figures released by Leicthman Research Group.

The tripling of streaming video usage comes as mean time spent online for this U.S. internet homes has increased to 3.7 hours, up from 2.8 hours in 2014 and 2.2 hours in 2009.

“This year’s study demonstrates a growing reliance on broadband Internet services in the home, with an increase in the time spent online at home, including the frequency of watching Internet-delivered video,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, touting the firm’s new report, Broadband Internet in the U.S. 2019.

According to the report, the percentage of U.S. households getting internet service at home has reached 85% up narrowly from 84% in 2014 and 80% in 2009, according to data compiled by Leichtman Research Group.

For now, this would seem to dissuade the notion that unlimited wireless service would send consumers away from their home internet service provider in droves.

Still, the percentage of American consumers accessing the internet via cellular mobile device is increasing, up to 81% of U.S. adults. In 2014, the percentage was only 63%.

Overall, the percentage of U.S. adults accessing the internet through both fixed home and wireless services is 75%, up from 59% in 2014. Today, only 10% or U.S. households only get their internet from a home ISP vs. 25% in 2014.

Half of U.S. households with home internet service streaming video daily, up from 29% in 2014 and 16% in 2009.

“It is most common for home Internet service to be complemented by Internet service on a mobile phone,” Leichtman added. “Three-quarters of households now get Internet service both at home and on a mobile phone, while the segment opting to solely access the Internet on a mobile phone has plateaued.”

With the pace of broadband subscribers slowing, the top 14 U.S. cable operators and telcos, representing 95% of the market, acquired about 2.1 million net high-speed internet customers in 2017, about 78% of the 2.7 million net adds in 2016, according to Leitchman Research Group (LRG).

RELATED: Broadband ‘Inching Toward Saturation,’ Analyst Says

The nation’s largest cable operators still took more than their fair share, adding 2.7 million broadband subs in 2017 – representing 83% of their take in 2016 – and offsetting a loss of about 625,000 subs among the top telcos, which continue to shed DSL customers (those top telcos lost about 600,000 subs in 2016).

The top broadband providers covered by LRG in the report account for nearly 95.1 million subs, with cable representing 61.2 million of that total.

“The top broadband providers in the US added nearly 4.8 million net broadband subscribers over the past two years,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said in a statement. “The top cable companies accounted for 130% of the net broadband additions in 2017, following 122% of the net adds in 2016.”

The 14 largest U.S. cable operators and telcos, representing 95% of the market, added 380,000 net additional high-speed internet subs in Q3 2017, driven again by gains by MSOs, Leichtman Research Group said in a report issued Thursday.

That was well behind the 625,000 net additional subs that those top ISPs added in the year-ago quarter, and presented more evidence that the U.S. broadband sector is nearing saturation.

RELATED: Broadband ‘Inching Toward Saturation,' Analyst Says

The top broadband providers accounted for about 94.5 million subs, with 60.4 million with cable ops, and 34.1 million going to the telcos.

The nation’s largest cable operators added about 540,000 broadband subs in Q3, or 69% of the net adds they had in the year-ago period, LRG said.

The telcos, meanwhile, lost 155,000 broadband subs in Q3, roughly equal to the 150,000 they lost in Q3 2016.

For the first three quarters of 2017, cable ops have added 2 million broadband subs, compared to a loss of 430,000 subs among the telcos, LRG said.

“Major providers now account for over 94.5 million broadband subscribers in the US, yet the broadband market is still expanding with cable providers continuing to drive the growth,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said in a statement.  “Over the past year, cable companies added about than 2.86 million broadband subscribers, accounting for 124% of the 2.3 million net broadband additions.”

The 11 largest pay TV providers in the U.S., representing about 95% of the market, lost about 665,000 net video subs in Q2 2016, widened from a loss of 545,000 subs in the year-ago period, Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found in its latest market tally.

Among individual providers, the top six cable MSOs shed about 225,000 video subscribers in Q2, narrowed from a year-ago loss of 340,000, marking the fewest MSO losses in any Q2 since 2006, LRG said.

Led by DirecTV’s net adds of 342,000, the nation’s satellite TV providers added 61,000 subs in Q2 (including gains from Dish’s Sling TV OTT service), versus a loss of 214,000 a year earlier.

The top U.S.  telcos lost 500,000 video subs in Q2 2016, versus a gain of 10,000 in Q2 2015. AT&T U-verse’s 391,000 net losses in Q2 were the most ever in a quarter by any provider, LRG noted.

The top six cable MSOs ended Q2 with 48.9 million video subs, compares to 34 million for satellite TV (including Sling TV), and 10.8 million among the telcos.

“The top pay-TV providers lost about 665,000 subscribers in the traditionally weak second quarter, with net losses in 2Q 2016 surpassing the previous quarterly low set in last year’s second quarter,” Bruce Leichtman, LRG’s president and principal analyst, said in a statement. “Over the past year, the top pay-TV providers (including DISH’s Sling TV) lost about 705,000 subscribers – compared to a loss of about 380,000 over the prior year.”

Thanks to the growth of LTE and WiFi broadband trends point toward wireless and mobility, but the vast majority of U.S. consumers take a broadband service at home, a new study shows.

Leichtman Research Group said 79% of U.S. homes now get a broadband Internet service that is delivered to the home, up from just 20% in 2004.

Broadband also accounts for 95% of all households with Internet service at home, up from 94% in 2013, 89% in 2009, and 33% in 2004.

The mean reported time spent online at home per day has also risen – to 2.8 hours among all individuals online at home, up from 2.2 hours per day in 2009, LRG found in its 12th study on the topic.

And usage skews younger – those ages 18-34 spend, on average, 3.3 hours per day online at home, versus 2.8 hours per day among those ages 35-54, and 2.1 hours per day among ages 55 and above.

LRG found that for the first time ever in this study, the 18-34 age group overall reports spending more time per day online at home than time spent watching TV.

“The percentage of US households with a computer, and the percentage of households that get an online service at home, have leveled off over the past few years, while broadband continues to grow at a modest pace,” said Bruce Leichtman, LRG’s president and principal analyst, in a statement. “Along with more people accessing a broadband Internet service at home than ever before, more time is also being spent online at home.”

LRG’s study also discovered that 63% of U.S. adults access the Internet on a smartphone, up from 44% in 2012, and 59% get Internet service at home and on a smartphone, up from 42% in 2012.

Among other findings:

-2% of households paid to subscribe to Internet service at home in the past year, do not currently subscribe, and do not plan to subscribe again in the next six months

-41% of households with annual incomes <$30,000 do not use a laptop or desktop computer at home – compared to 9% with incomes >$30,000.

-2% of all households have an iPad or tablet, but do not use a desktop or laptop computer.

LRG’s latest study – part of the firm’s Broadband Internet Access & Services in the Home 2014 report -- was based on a telephone survey of 1,261 households.

About 84% of U.S. homes subscribe to some form of pay-TV service, a figure that factors in occupied housing growth, Leichtman Research Group found it its 12th-annual study of the video sector.

The study, Cable, DBS & Telcos: Competing for Customers 2014, notes that penetration of pay-TV among residential households has waned from its peak in 2010 following the broadcast TV digital transition. Notably, LRG reported recently that the number of cable broadband subscribers surpassed cable pay-TV subs in the second quarter of 2014.

“The number of pay-TV subscribers in the US remains about as high as it has ever been, but penetration of pay-TV services in consumers’ homes has declined over the past few years as subscriber growth has leveled-off, while occupied housing in the US has increased,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for LRG, in a statement. “Housing growth has been exclusively among renters, who tend to be more challenging for the pay-TV industry than home owners because of their comparatively lower income, younger age, and greater likelihood to move."

The study, based on a survey of 1,260 U.S. households conducted in June and July, also found that 6% of those who don’t currently subscribe to a pay-TV service plan to in the next six months – including 20% of those who subscribed in the past year, 2% who subscribed over one year ago, and 4% who have never subscribed.

Overall, 35% of households that don’t take pay-TV have never subscribed to a pay-TV service, LRG said.

Other notables from LRG’s study:

- 22% of TV homes with annual incomes of less than $50,000 are non-subscribers, versus 13% with incomes of greater than $50,000.

-The mean reported monthly spending on pay-TV service is $89.78 – an increase of 36% since 2009.

-12% of cable TV subscribers, 12% of telco TV subscribers, and 11% of satellite TV subscribers are likely to switch from their current provider in the next six months.

-11% of non-subscribers cite the Internet or Netflix as the main reason for not currently subscribing to a pay-TV service – compared to 3% in 2009

-22% of those who moved in the past year do not currently subscribe to a pay-TV service – a higher level than in previous years.

The thirteen largest U.S. pay-TV providers, representing 95% of the market, lost roughly 300,000 net video subscribers in the second quarter, a tick below the 350,000 they lost in the year-ago quarter, according to a new report from Leichtman Research Group.

Broken down further, the top nine cable operators shed 510,000 video subs, the fewest losses in in any second quarter since 2009, LRG said, but pointed out that Cable ONE lost 6.5% of all cable subs in the period, the highest percentage loss in one quarter by any top provider in the past decade.

DirecTV and Dish Network lost 78,000 video subs in the quarter, narrowed from a loss of 162,000 in the year-ago quarter, while the top telcos added 290,000, versus 373,000 net adds a year earlier.

The top multichannel programming video distributors (MVPDs) analyzed by LRG ended the quarter with nearly 95.5 million subs, with cable accounting for 49.9 million, satellite 34.3 million, and top telcos 11.3 million.

“The top pay-TV providers lost about 300,000 subscribers in the traditionally weak second quarter, but cumulative net losses in 2Q 2014 were slightly fewer than in any second quarter since 2Q 2010,” said Bruce Leichtman, LRG’s president and principal analyst, in a statement. “Over the past year, the top pay-TV providers actually had a small net gain of about 20,000 subscribers, compared to a cumulative net loss of about 70,000 subscribers over the prior year.”

Last week, MoffettNathanson principal and senior media analyst Craig Moffett issued a report finding that the U.S. pay-TV sector lost a net 305,000 subs in the second quarter. When accounting for new housing formation, he found that cord-cutting had closed to an annualized rate of about 400,000 homes, well below the peak, yet still modest, rates seen in 2012.