Cable operators lost 1.66 million video subscribers last year, but that was an improvement compared to the 1.8 million that MSOs dropped in 2011, Kagan said. AT&T, Verizon and other telcos saw the most video subscriber growth, gaining 1.4 million pay TV subscribers last year. The telcos added 1.6 million new video subscribers in 2011. DirecTV and Dish Network had net subscriber additions of 288,000 in 2012, which was a weaker performance compared to the roughly 500,000 customers that the satellite TV providers picked up in 2011, Kagan said.

Disputes involving license fees between cable networks and pay TV distributors may be one of the factors impacting subscriber losses. Parks Associates released a research report this week in which it found that 34 percent of pay TV subscribers lost a channel because of a programming dispute, and that 7 percent of the subscribers who switched providers switched because of the channel loss.

From the article, " Pay TV subscriber growth lags behind housing market rebound" by Steve Donohue.

Next: Roku beating Apple TV in market share for streaming video devices
Previous: 7% of U.S. TV Viewers Who Lose a Channel, Often Due to Carriage Disputes, Will Switch to New Pay-TV Provider

Be the first to leave a comment.

Have a comment? Login or create an account to start a discussion.