Video Business Loses Customers, Again

The 13 largest subscription video providers in the United States, representing about 94 percent of the market, lost about 345,000 net video subscribers in the second quarter of  2013.

In the second quarter of  2012 and in the second quarter of  2011, the industry lost about 325,000 subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group.

Those 13 cable TV, satellite TV and telco TV  companies represent 94.6 million subscribers.

Cable TV companies having about 50.5 million video subscribers, satellite TV companies have 34 million subscribers, and the telephone companies have more than 10 million subscribers. That implies the cable TV industry has 53 percent market share, satellite TV firms have 36 percent share, while telcos have 11 percent market share.

Some will note those trends and conclude that disruption of the TV business is coming soon.

The predictable changes we now expect to see are small market share gains by telcos, every quarter, at the expense of cable TV providers, with satellite provider share roughly stable. But the changes represent fractions of a percent of the installed base.

That was the story in the second quarter of 2013, according to IHS. AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS (with some small additions by independent telcos) added a net 398,000 video accounts during the second quarter, up from 304,000 net adds in the second quarter of 2012.

The U.S. video subscription business as  while lost a net 352,000 subscribers in the second quarter, according to IHS.

In a market with nearly 95 million to 104 million subscribers, that really isn’t such a big deal. That’s a market shrinkage of about one-tenth of a percent, to three-tenths of one percent.

Some might point to apparent disinterest in video services on the part of younger consumers forming households.

So far, thought, the changes indicate we are past the peak of the product life cycle, but are not yet in a “disruptive” phase where the decline becomes significant.

Multi-channel Video Provider	Subscribers at End of 2Q 2013	Net Adds in 2Q 2013	Net Adds in 2Q 2012
Cable Companies
Comcast	21,776,000	(159,000)	(176,000)
Time Warner	11,911,000	(189,000)	(169,000)
Charter	4,073,000	(51,000)	(72,000)
Cablevision*	3,171,000	(20,000)	0
Suddenlink	1,189,900	(22,900)	(19,900)
Mediacom	983,000	(16,000)	(22,000)
Cable ONE	575,762	(12,418)	(9,610)
Other Major Private Cable Companies**	6,810,000	(85,000)	(70,000)
Total Top Cable	50,488,762	(555,318)	(538,510)
Satellite TV Companies (DBS)
DirecTV	20,021,000	(84,000)	(52,000)
DISH	14,014,000	(78,000)	(10,000)
Total Top DBS	34,035,000	(162,000)	(62,000)
Telephone Companies
Verizon FiOS	5,035,000	140,000	120,000
AT&T U-verse	5,001,000	233,000	155,000
Total Top Telephone Companies	10,036,000	373,000	275,000
Total Multi-channel Video	94,559,762	(344,318)	(325,510)

Sources: The Companies and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.