SNL Kagan Releases 4th-Quarter U.S. Multichannel Subscriber Report

Multichannel sub loss tops 1 million in 2015, residential penetrations decline

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Mar 14, 2016, 01:00 ET

MONTEREY, Calif., March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the most recent report from SNL Kagan, a group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, the downward trajectory of the U.S. multichannel segment continued in the fourth quarter of 2015 despite a resurgence in cable subscriptions and solid direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) results, suggesting a share shift rather than a retreat from cord cutting.

SNL Kagan estimates the combined cable, DBS and telecommunications (telco) sectors lost more than 1 million video customers in 2015. The 12-month decline was more than 4x the 2014 decline, and marked the third consecutive overall annual drop for the industry. That said, the waning months of 2015 carried signs of stabilization after steep losses for the better part of the year. The industry dipped by only 15,000 total customers in the period ended Dec. 31, 2015, essentially matching the losses of fourth quarter 2014.

Additional highlights from SNL Kagan's 4th-quarter U.S. Multichannel Subscriber report:

SNL Kagan has introduced a view of residential-only subscribers to our quarterly reports to better isolate changing patterns of consumption. Year-end 2015 residential subscriptions dropped to 96.7 million. The residential decline was slightly more exaggerated than the total market movement, accounting for a 57,000 subscriber dip in the fourth quarter and reaching 1.1 million for the year.
Multiple system operators (MSOs) in 2015 lost 599,000 total video customers. This was cable's best performance since 2007 when the industry lost 458,000 customers. It was also the platform's first sub-1 million drop in 7 years.
DBS shed 478,000 subscribers during the year to end at 33.1 million. This compares to a loss of 39,000 in 2014.
The telco segment ended 2015 essentially flat, with downward pressure from AT&T's shift away from U-verse to the lower cost video platform of DIRECTV weighing on the overall platform's performance.

About SNL Kagan
SNL Kagan, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence, is a comprehensive resource for financial intelligence in the media and communications sector, including the broadcasting, cable, entertainment, motion picture, telecom, wireless, satellite, publishing and new media industries. The SNL Kagan suite of products integrates breaking news, comprehensive data and industry analysis into an electronic database available online and updated around the clock. For more information, visit www.snlkagan.com.

About S&P Global Market Intelligence
S&P Global Market Intelligence, formerly S&P Capital IQ and SNL Financial, is a division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI). The firm is a leading provider of financial and industry data, research, news and analytics to investment professionals, government agencies, corporations, and universities worldwide. S&P Global Market Intelligence integrates news, comprehensive market and sector-specific data and analytics into a variety of tools to help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuation and assess credit risk. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence.

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