The largest U.S. pay-TV providers, representing 93.6 million subs or about 95% of the market, shed about 795,000 net video customers in 2016, versus a pro forma loss of about 445,000 subscribers in 2015, according to a new data analysis from Leichtman Research Group.
Broken down further, the top six cable operators ended 2016 with 48.6 million video subs, compared to satellite TV’s 33.5 million, about 10.1 million subs among telco TV providers, and 1.4 million for the top OTT TV providers (i.e. Sling TV and DirecTV Now), LRG said.
The top six MSOs collectively lost 280,000 video subs last year, narrowed from a loss of 410,000 subs in 2015, and 1.2 million subs in 2014. Among those top MSOs, Comcast added 161,000 video subs in 2016. The 2016 losses were the fewest for U.S. cable since 2006, LRG said.
The U.S. satellite TV providers, DirecTV and Dish Network, added 190,000 subs last year, improving from a loss of about 450,000 subs in 2015.
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