U.S. cable, satellite and telco TV platforms largely experienced accelerated cord-cutting in 2017, with the traditional pay TV ecosystem’s customer base shrinking by 3.7%, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence firm Kagan.
The Kagan data shows linear multichannel services down 7.4 million subscribers since peaking in 2012.
The estimates have the traditional U.S. pay TV ecosystem shrinking by around 3 million users in 2017.
Kagan’s quarterly report is typically the last to emerge among those who tally the pay TV user base and is perhaps the most comprehensive, drilling down to small operators.
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Cable operators saw a three-year streak of decelerating cord-cutting ended, with video losses nearly doubling to 986,411, the research group said.
Satellite TV operators Dish and DirecTV, meanwhile, had their worst years ever, collectively losing 1.7 million subscribers.
Telco operators, meanwhile, lost 903,262 TV users, but saw losses decelerate in the final three quarters of 2017.
With around 3.2 million Sling TV and DirecTV Now subscribers factored in, the total pay TV user base stands at around 94 million, Kagan said.