Video subscriber gains in the first quarter of 2013 by top
U.S. service providers were not enough to avoid a first-ever net subscriber
loss in the category over a four-quarter period, Leichtman Research Group (LRG)
reported Monday.
LRG's analysis of the top 13 multichannel video providers in
the U.S., representing 94% of the market, showed that they added about 195,000
net additional video subs in the period, down versus a net gain of about
445,000 in the year-ago quarter, and a net gain of about 470,000 in the
corresponding quarter of in 2011.
"These Q1 gains were not enough to offset subscriber losses
from Q2 and Q3 2012, leaving major multi-channel video providers with a net
loss of about 80,000 subscribers over the past year, compared to a net gain of
about 380,000 over the prior year," LRG said, noting that it marked the first
industry-wide subscriber loss over a four-quarter period since the firm began
tracking the data over a decade ago.
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