MONTEREY, CA – Legacy video subscribers in the U.S. dropped to below 90 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, propelling a full-year drop to nearly 4 million, according to data compiled by Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Combined, the cable, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and telecom multichannel sectors lost nearly 1.1 million subscriptions in the fourth quarter, with DBS services accounting for more than half of the annual loss.
Virtual platforms partially offset the traditional multichannel declines, keeping those customers in a subscription package of live linear channels, but gains to services such as Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV were not enough to prevent the space from shrinking. Traditional and virtual multichannel subscriptions combined fell nearly 1.3 million for the year.
Other highlights from the Fourth Quarter 2018 U.S. Multichannel Subscriber report include:
– The residential penetration rate for virtual and traditional multichannel services ticked down to 75% in the fourth quarter of 2018.
– Multiple-system operators (MSOs) wrapped up 2018 with another round of quarterly losses, bringing the platform's annual decline to nearly 1.3 million, versus a drop of 997,000 in 2017.
– Telco video services cut combined annual subscriber losses for a second consecutive year, losing 351,000 subs to end 2018 at 10.3 million.
– DIRECTV and DISH each lost more than 1 million subs in 2018.
The company doesn't track the Canadian market.
