Cable and satellite TV services in the USA suffered significant subscriber losses in Q3 – but these were offset by telco provider gains. According to Informitv’s Multiscreen Index, there was a net loss of 45,000 digital TV subscribers in the quarter among the 10 leading service providers in the country. There are more than 87 million TV subscribers among these services, so the figure represents just 0.05% of their customer base. Informitiv asserts that the continuing gains by telcos suggests that the market is demanding more flexible viewing options than traditional companies can provide. For example, Comcast and Time Warner together lost 265,000 DTV subscribers in Q3, while Charter, Cablevision, Mediacom and Suddenlink fell by 68,000 altogether. AT&T and Verizon rose 328,000 between them, U-Verse was up by 214,000 and FiOS by 114,000.
