DirecTV, Comcast Led Q2 Pay-TV Subscriber Losses: LRG

Amid shelter-in-place mandates, the largest U.S. pay-TV providers lost about 1.2 million net video subscribers, with Q2 the sixth consecutive quarter of one million-plus net losses. That compares with a net loss of about 2.1 million in Q1 and 1.3 million in the year-ago quarter, said a Wednesday Leichtman Research Group report. Comcast lost 478,000 video subscribers and Cox 50,000; Charter bucked the trend with 94,000 net adds. DirecTV shed 846,000 subs and Dish 40,000. Cable lost half a million video subscribers vs. 455,000 in Q2 2019; top telco providers lost 157,000 vs. 95,000 in Q2 2019, led by Verizon Fios with 80,000 cancellations. Among vMVPD services, Hulu+ Live TV added 100,000 net subscribers while Sling TV and AT&T Now dropped 56,000 and 68,000 subs, it said. Though the pay-TV industry continues to lose subscribers “rapidly,” the wide disparity among top providers in Q2 shows "the significance of individual corporate strategies,” said Bruce Leichtman.