The top 10 television service providers lost a further 0.86 million subscribers in third quarter of 2020.
According to the informitv Multiscreen Index, they have between them lost 4.72 million television subscribers in the year to date, fewer than for the same period in 2019.
Comcast lost 253,000 television subscribers, compared to a loss of 427,000 the previous quarter, taking its total to 19.22 million, down from 20.42 million a year previously; AT&T lost 627,000 subscribers across its satellite, telco and online television platforms, compared to a loss of 952,000 in the previous quarter, with a total of 17.78 million, while DISH Network lost 57,000 satellite subscribers, although it gained 205,000 Sling TV online subscribers, ending the quarter with a combined total of 11.42 million television subscribers.
“The rate of television subscriber decline in the United States has reduced since the first quarter of 2020, when the top 10 services had combined losses of 2.33 million,” observed Dr William Cooper, the editor of the informitv Multiscreen Index. “There is still a secular decline in this mature market, but it is important to remember that six out of ten television homes in the United States still subscribe to one of these services.”
The top 10 services for the United States in the Multiscreen Index now have 72.28 million television customers between them, accounting for just under 60% of television homes.