We are witnessing a major shift in the way people want to watch TV. Last week, informitiv published its Multiscreen Index which tracks trends in entertainment subscriptions.
A Worldwide Trend
The index covers trends around the world, not only in the United States. It paints a tough picture for the traditional cable industry. The most shocking figure is that cable TV companies are losing 14,000 subscribers every single day. This is the highest level we’ve seen. The study from informativ showed that Comcast lost 107,000 subscribers, Charter Spectrum lost 152,000 customers, and DISH Network lost 266,000 subscribers over the last quarter. Interestingly, there was one service that actually gained subscribers over the quarter–Sling TV–which gained 7,000.
Dr. William Cooper said, “There were losses across the top 10 television services in the United States, with even the DIRECTV NOW online service losing customers.” Cooper is the editor of the Multiscreen Index. Cooper went on to say that the top 10 TV services lost over 1.25 million subscribers in the last three months. The rate of attrition is increasing.
In the United States there are still 82 million consumers paying for TV, so the television industry is still going to be around for a while. But it’s clear that the industry needs to reinvent itself to survive. Streaming is likely the long-term solution. But with streaming services losing subscribers (DIRECTTV NOW, for example) it isn’t a slam dunk.
The Future is Streaming?
What isn’t clear is how many people are getting the television over the air. It’s still a great way to watch beautifully-detailed content from the big networks. If streaming is the future, will broadcast towers cease to exist? And what will be the replacement for channel surfing? It used to be a great way to stumble on a new show. It now looks like show recommendations from machine learning algorithms are how we’ll find that next favorite.
Read more at the Streaming Observer.
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