YouTube growing as traditional pay-TV operators in US losing subscribers
YouTube is now the fifth largest pay-TV operator in the US, adding 100,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2023.
This, said Leichtman Research Group, comes as the largest pay-TV providers in the US, which represents about 96% of the market, lost about 2,215,000 net video subscribers in the same period.
Bruce Leichtman, President & Principal Analyst, Leichtman Research Group, said, “Pay-TV net losses of about 2.2 million in 1Q 2023 were more than in any previous quarter. Similar to recent quarters, the record net losses appear to be as much a function of a slowdown in new connects as an increase in disconnects.”
The top pay-TV operators now account for about 73.7 million subscribers, with the top seven cable companies having about 36.8 million video subscribers, other traditional pay-TV services having 23.4 million subscribers, and the top Internet-delivered Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor (vMPVD) pay-TV services – including YouTube – having about 13.5 million subscribers.
YouTube, according to Leichtman Research Group, was the only major pay-TV platform to register growth in Q1 2023, with the top vMVPDs registering a net loss of about 395,000 subscribers, compared to a loss of about 400,000 subscribers in the same period last year.
Top cable providers had a net loss of about 1,060,000 video subscribers compared to a loss of about 825,000 subscribers last year, while other traditional pay-TV services had a net loss of about 760,000 subscribers, compared to a loss of about 625,000 subscribers.
