The indicator of the number of subscribers to pay television services fell by 0.11 million in the third quarter of 2018.
The informitv Multiscreen Index also reported just 43 out of 100 services reporting subscriber gains, the fewest seen to date.
While there was a decline of just over a million subscribers across North, Central and South America, the number of subscribers also fell for the first time in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, by 0.31 million.
“Our Multiscreen Index shows a slight fall in television subscriber numbers worldwide for the first time, following average quarterly growth of 1% over recent years,” observed editor Dr William Cooper. “The third calendar quarter tends to be weaker. The key question is whether the next quarter will show a recovery or continuing decline.”
The greatest gain was for Türk Telekom in Turkey, with a gain of 266,000 to a total of 3.53 million, including satellite, telco and Tivibu Go subscribers, up from 2.51 million a year previously.
The largest loss was for Canal+ International, which fell by 608,000 subscribers following the football World Cup, taking its total to 6.93 million, although it was up 726,000 year-on-year.
Sky did not report subscriber numbers following its acquisition by Comcast.
