US Pay TV Faces Huge Subscriber Losses in Q1 2024 – TVovermind

Cutting the string is growing faster than ever, and many subscribers are moving away from live TV service. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, more than 1.2 million customers canceled their Comcast, Spectrum and DISH subscriptions. A report by Craig Moffett shows that YouTube TV, which had previously seen an increase in subscribers, reportedly lost 150,000 subscribers over the same period.

This shift comes as more cord cutters prioritize on-demand streaming services over live TV. The end of the 2023 NFL season also contributed to the decline in subscriber numbers, as many of them will likely resubscribe when the 2024 NFL season begins this fall.

This decline comes as cable television continues to lose subscribers at an alarming rate. Comcast, Spectrum and DISH collectively lost more than 13,700 TV customers per day in the first quarter of 2024.

Comcast Reports Major Losses

In its first quarter earnings report released this morning, Comcast revealed that it lost 487,000 cable customers, an average of more than 5,300 subscribers per day. Additionally, Comcast reported a loss of 65,000 broadband customers during the quarter, a significant increase from the 34,000 customer losses recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

If these trends continue, Comcast could see more than 1.975 million TV customer losses by the end of 2024.

The spectrum has been steadily declining

Charter Communications’ Spectrum reported a loss of 405,000 TV customers in the first quarter of 2024, leading to a loss of 320,000 customers in the fourth quarter of 2023. Spectrum also lost 72,000 internet customers for the second quarter in a row.

If current trends continue, Spectrum is expected to lose more than 1.642 million TV customers in 2024.

The DISH network is also struggling

DISH Network revealed that it lost a total of 348,000 TV subscribers in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the total to approximately 8.178 million. Sling TV itself lost about 135,000 subscribers, while DISH TV lost another 213,000.

Comparably better than last year, loss of approx television subscribersDISH can still expect estimated losses of approximately 1.411 million TV customers if these trends continue for the rest of the year.