Satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network once again accounted for a large majority of pay TV subscriber losses during the first quarter, according to Informitv’s new Multiscreen Index.
The report calculated total video subscriber losses during the first quarter at approximately 1.28 million for the top 10 U.S. video providers: AT&T (DirecTV, U-verse, DirecTV Now), Comcast, Charter, Dish Network (Sling TV), Verizon, Altice USA, Frontier and Mediacom. The report said that those services combined now have 81.9 million video subscribers.
“There were losses across the top 10 television services in the United States, with even the DirecTV Now online service losing customers following previous heavy promotion. Between them, they lost over one-and-a-quarter million subscribers in three months. They still command a significant number of customers but the rate of attrition has increased,” said Dr. William Cooper, editor of the Informitv Multiscreen Index, in a statement.
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The report said that the new subscriber total for the top 10 U.S. video services now accounts for slightly less than 70% of television households.
Both Charter and Comcast saw their pay TV subscriber losses accelerate this quarter. Charter lost a net 145,000 video subscribers, up from 111,000 one year ago, and Comcast lost a net 121,000 video subscribers, up from 96,000 one year ago.
But it was DirecTV and Dish Network that sustained the most damage. AT&T’s total net video losses during the quarter totaled 627,000—a net loss of 544,000 traditional video subscribers and 83,000 streaming TV subscribers. Dish lost approximately 266,000 satellite subscribers, a number that was only partially offset by 7,000 added Sling TV subscribers.