The top 10 television services in the United States lost 1.41 million subscribers between them in the second quarter of 2019, as reported by the informitv Multiscreen Index. The Sling TV online service was the only one of the top 10 to gain subscribers in the quarter, which was the worst so far for television subscriber losses in the United States.
AT&T lost over three quarters of a million premium television subscribers, across its DIRECTV satellite and U-Verse telco platforms. Significantly, the DIRECTV NOW online service lost 105,000 subscribers. That left AT&T with 22.91 million television subscribers in the United States, which is still a substantial number.
Comcast lost 210,000 television subscribers, compared to a loss of 107,000 the prior quarter and a loss of 136,000 the same quarter a year previously, ending the first half of 2019 with 20.64 million.
Charter television subscribers fell by 150,000 to 15.80 million, compared to a loss of 152,000 the previous quarter and a loss of 66,000 the second quarter the previous year.
DISH Network lost 79,000 satellite television subscribers, but gained 48,000 Sling TV online customers, leaving it with 12.03 million combined. DISH Network losses were lower than in the previous three quarters, over which it lost over a million subscribers.
| Service | Change quarter |
Subscribers m |
|---|---|---|
| -1,409,800 | 80.42 | |
| AT&T Premium TV | -778,000 | 21.58 |
| Comcast | -210,000 | 20.64 |
| Charter Spectrum | -150,000 | 15.80 |
| DISH Network | -79,000 | 9.56 |
| Verizon FiOS | -52,000 | 4.27 |
| Altice USA | -20,800 | 3.28 |
| Sling TV | 48,000 | 2.47 |
| DIRECTV NOW | -105,000 | 1.33 |
| Frontier | -17,000 | 0.75 |
| Mediacom | -46,000 | 0.74 |
Having lost 1,280,200 in the first quarter, the top 10 services shed 2,690,000 television subscribers in the first six months of 2019.
The top 10 services, including the Sling TV and DIRECTV NOW online offerings, nevertheless ended the first half of 2019 with 80.42 million subscribers between them.
The Multiscreen Index comprises 100 leading multichannel television and video services that collectively account for around 440 million subscribing homes worldwide. The index provides an industry benchmark of the relative performance of television service providers against which customer gains or losses can be measured.