Top U.S. Pay-TV Operators Shed 25,000 Subscribers in Q3

The top 13 multichannel video distributors in the US, equal to about 94% of the market, lost about 25,000 net video subscribers in the third quarter, versus a loss of about 50,000 in the year-ago period, Leitchman Research Group revealed in a report.

The top nine cable operators lost about 600,000 video subs, that group’s highest quarterly loss since the third quarter of 2010, LRG said, adding that Time Warner Cable’s loss of 300,000 subs in the quarter, attributed in part to its spat with CBS, marked the highest quarter losses every for any multi-channel video provider. By comparison, DirecTV and Dish Network added 174,000 subs, up from 48,000 in a year-ago, while the top telcos added 400,000, up from 317,000. AT&T U-verse TV’s net adds of 265,000 subs were its highest since the first quarter of 2009, and its second-best quarterly showing ever, LRG said.