Two More Cable Cos Report Subscriber Losses

November 5, 2010 · Posted in M&E Daily, Today's M&E Connections 

Time Warner Cable reported a third-quarter decline of 155,000 video subscribers, while New York-area provider Cablevision reported a loss of 24,500 subscribers during the same period (via Home Media Magazine). But even as the subscriber losses exceeded analyst expectations, the cable operators echoed Comcast’s reckoning from last month (via the Wall Street Journal) that subscriber declines are due to general economic conditions — as opposed to the advent of Internet-based entertainment options.

Other industry observers maintain that such “cord-cutting” is beginning to impact cable companies’ business. AP quotes Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg as likening anecdotes of cord-cutting to the early days of cell phone subscribers giving up their landlines. “The first thing when that happens is you deny it,” Ivan Seidenberg says. “I know the drill. I have been there.”

The volatility continues to be at the low-end of the pay-TV market. In contrast, satellite TV provider DirecTV added 174,000 new U.S. subscribers in its third quarter — while profit at the company rose 31% as customers flocked to its exclusive programming and premium DVR service (via Bloomberg). DirecTV also said that a tightening of its customer credit requirements helped the bottom line.

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