Pay-TV Subscriber Losses in 2Q

According to company reports and SNL Kagan estimates, cable, satellite and telco video providers collectively lost 366,000 video subscriptions in the second quarter.

SNL Kagan said the figure was predictably softer than the first quarter but offered some encouragement with a nearly 11% improvement to the loss posted in the year-ago quarter. The industry remains slightly below its mid-2012 levels, placing the current U.S. multichannel market in a subscriber doldrums. The combined cable, telco and DBS counts, according to SNL Kagan estimates, were more than 200,000 lower than in second quarter 2012. By expanding the view backward to second quarter 2011, SNL Kagan’s analysis noted only a small uptick in combined subscriptions of 121,000 for the past 24 months. Cable doubled its loss from the previous quarter, but the estimated decline of 607,000 was a slight improvement from the year-ago measure.