Let's see the scorecard. For Q3, Comcast lost 275,000 cable TV subscribers, Time Warner Cable lost 155,000 subs, Charter lost 63,800, and Cablevision 24,500 subscribers. For both Time Warner and Comcast, each has seen basic sub losses for the last 6 quarters. back in Q1 2009, Time Warner added 36,000 customers while Comcast lost 78,000 subs. In fact,as far back as I have tracked, Q4 2008, Comcast has been losing basic customers, a total since then of almost one and a half million basic subscribers.
To be fair, not all these cable cord cutters are dropping cable TV service altogether; rather, most are switching to Satellite or Telco. Since Q4 2009, the "cable" companies have lost more than 2.7 mm subs, while Dish and Direct TV together have added more than 2mm and AT&T and Verizon have added over 3.75 mm TV customers. So while TV subscription is growing, the trend is moving from cable to alternative providers.
The other factor to consider is the level of service being purchased. As cable TV rates rise, customers are moving to satellite and telco for better deals. Customers are also dropping additional services like premium TV. HBO for instance has seen a significant drop in subscription. With VOD as well as over the top service like Netflix and Redbox, customers are choosing to buy individual films over a premium subscription. It is partly why these providers are pushing more original series to their audience. Exclusivity of content to maintain their audience share.
Lastly is over the top content providers. With Hulu pricing lower their premium level of service, price elasticity is at play to generate more customer buys. As Hulu becomes more robust at a manageable price point, pressure to drop cable service for broadband content will also impact cord cutting. Series through Hulu and other content sites and movies through Netflix and others, all at a at a reasonable price point, may cause consumers to reallocate their entertainment budget from cable subscription to elsewhere. And TV manufacturers and gaming console providers are making it far easier for consumers to connect broadband content to their TV set.
So the challenge of a bad economy, poor price-value proposition by the cable companies, cheaper alternatives, and over the top choices for content are negatively affecting the subscriber numbers for cable companies. The trends over the last 2 years should be enough for cable companies to realize that their dominance is at risk. Maybe not today, maybe not next year, but market forces continue to take bigger bites to eat away their market share.
Our FiOS TV service cuts off on Saturday, at which point we go 100% Netflix/Hulu/Amazon. Net monthly savings will be around $62.50.
ReplyDeleteThe equipment (a new Sony Blu-Ray player for the HD set, and a plain old Roku for the SD set) will be paid for by the savings within 4 months.
Downsides:
1. Approx 7-8 mins per hour of commercials on Hulu vs. 2-3 mins per hour of commercial skip button pressing on the DVR.
2. HBO, Showtime, and CBS don't have digital distribution strategies that work into this plan. So we lose access to their shows (and they lose access to our wallets) until their "Season X" DVD sets hit Netflix.
3. Rewind and FF aren't as smooth as they are on a DVR.
I'm sure someone will introduce a DVR middleman device which can download streams while you're at work and then give you that smooth searching and commercial skipping.