The top 10 television service providers between them lost almost one million subscribers in 2016.
According to the informitv Multiscreen Index the installed base shrank by 937,000, accounting for a collective 88.69 million television customers, an annual loss of 1.05%. However, mergers and acquisitions kept the boat afloat with the number of subscribers rising as a result.
“The names and rankings may change but despite losing nearly a million subscribers between them, the top 10 services have 1.54 million more television subscribers between them than the top 10 a year ago,” said informitv analyst Dr Sue Farrell.
Comcast gained 161,000 television customers in 2016, with net additions in three of the four quarters, compared to a net loss of 36,000 over the previous year. DIRECTV added 1.23 million television subscribers in the United States in 2016, gaining every quarter, although the AT&T U-verse service of its parent company lost 1.36 million over the year. Verizon Fios shed 1.13 million television customers in 2016, largely through the transfer of 1.18 million customers to Frontier Communications in April.
| Service | Parent company | Platform | Change | Change | Subscribers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | quarter | m | ||||
| 1 | Comcast | Comcast Communications Corporation | Cable | 161000 | 80000 | 22.51 |
| 2 | DIRECTV | AT&T | Satellite | 1228000 | 235000 | 21.01 |
| 3 | Charter Spectrum | Charter Communications | Cable | -226000 | -51000 | 16.84 |
| 4 | DISH Network | DISH Network Corporation | Satellite | -226000 | 28000 | 13.67 |
| 5 | Verizon Fios | Verizon Communications | Telco | -1133000 | 21000 | 4.69 |
| 6 | AT&T U-verse | AT&T | Telco | -1361000 | -262000 | 4.25 |
| 7 | Optimum | Altice | Cable | -166000 | -121000 | 2.43 |
| 8 | Frontier | Frontier Communications | Cable | 865000 | -84000 | 1.42 |
| 9 | Suddenlink | Altice | Cable | -52000 | -8000 | 1.04 |
| 10 | Mediacom | Mediacom Communications | Cable | -27000 | -6000 | 0.83 |
| -937000 | -168000 | 88.69 |
Television subscriber numbers at the end of December 2016 for the 10 leading pay-television services in the United States that report figures.
Source: informitv Multiscreen Index
