Multichannel subscriptions dropped by 812,000 customers to 98.4 million in the second-quarter according to new figures from SNL Kagan.
The total is 95.7 million households, excluding overlap from those taking more than one service.
Pay TV subs are being closely watched amid concerns about slower growth in distribution revenue for cable programmers.
Kagan said that cable operators lost 298,000, 13.6% fewer than last year, marking the fifth consecutive year of smaller losses for the second quarter, usually a tough one because of school letting out and households moving. Total cable households were 5.29 million.
Satellite operators lose 26,000 subscribers for a total of 33.3 million. Losses at Dish offset net adds at DirecTV.
Telecom lasses accelerated after AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. Telcos finished with 12.2 million subscribers, down 488,000.
Kagan says that if it factors in an estimated 764,000 customers for Dish’s Sling TV—which it says is arguably a multichannel service, the decline in subs is just 853,000.
For the year, total multichannel subs are down 1.36 million, with cable dropping 438,000, telcos down 987,000 and satellite up 66,000.
