MONTEREY, CA – U.S. multichannel subscribers grew slightly in both Q4 2012 and for the full year, reversing the negative quarterly trends of Q2 and Q3 2012, according to an SNL Kagan report released today.
The small gain that brought total multichannel subs to 100.4 million illustrates the continued popularity of multichannel video alongside evidence that alternative access is siphoning the segment’s growth potential. Multichannel service providers in the U.S. collectively added 51,000 new customers in fourth quarter 2012, according to company reports, private MSO surveys and SNL Kagan estimates for total subscribers served by cable, satellite and telco video packages.
The three platforms collectively added 46,000 video customers year over year in 2012, finishing the year with more than 100.4 million. While the industry has never posted a full-year decline in video subscribers, growth has proven difficult above the 100 million-household mark. For the year, SNL Kagan estimates that U.S. cable subs declined to 56.4 million, DBS subs grew to 34.1 million and telco video subs grew to 9.9 million.
The report says attributes external factors, including persistent high unemployment and other macroeconomic weights along with widespread disruption to east coast systems from Hurricane Sandy, also played a role in the modest subscriber growth.
The cable industry posted a net loss in fourth quarter 2012 that was a significant improvement over the previous two quarters, but outpaced the segment’s performance in the year-ago quarter. SNL Kagan estimates the industry dropped 418,000 video subs, a 0.7% sequential decline. The segment lost 1.66 million video customers in 2012, an improvement over the 1.8 million dip in 2011.
The telcos are experiencing slowing growth as their penetrations rise. The industry was still the driving force in subscriber growth, with more than 1.4 million new video customers in 2012. However, the momentum is slowing, down from nearly 1.6 million in 2011.
DBS providers built on their slice of the video segment, but with net adds of 288,000 in 2012 – down from the nearly half a million new subs added in 2011 – growth is becoming more difficult to come by.
