Pay-TV Providers Lost a Record 2M Subs in Q1; vMVPDs Swing Negative, Says LRG

Pay-TV providers lost 2 million net video subscribers in Q1, the biggest quarterly loss ever and double those of the 2019 quarter, reported Leichtman Research Group Thursday. Satellite TV services lost just over 1 million subs, vs. 810,000 a year ago. The top seven cable companies shed 595,000 vs. a 335,000 decline; phone companies lost 125,000 vs. a 105,000 loss. The top publicly reporting vMVPDs -- AT&T TV NOW, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV -- lost about 320,000 vs. 225,000 net adds. The record net losses were partly due to the impact of COVID-19 but don’t solely reflect consumers' dropping services, said analyst Bruce Leichtman: “Several providers cited a decrease in connects as a key component of net losses in the quarter, rather than an increase in disconnects.”