Cord-Cutting Pain Is Spread Unevenly

Cord-cutting is officially the US media industry’s fear du jour. But not all companies will fare the same if subscriber declines accelerate.

Analysts at Sanford Bernstein set out to show how sensitive major media companies are to a drop in the affiliate fees they charge pay-TV providers per subscriber. AMC Networks earnings per share would fall 16.6% if domestic affiliate fees fell 10%, Bernstein estimates. Disney falls roughly in the middle of the pack: Its earnings would fall 8.7%. The company with the lowest exposure is CBS. It owns premium cable channel Showtime but is primarily a broadcast network. Even factoring in retransmission fees from cable and satellite companies paying to carry its signal, CBS’s earnings would only fall 3.2%, Bernstein estimates.