Cord cutting was particularly popular in 2023, with over 6.9 million American households canceling cable and satellite TV service.
According to the Leichtman Research Group, Comcast lost over 2 million subscribers, Spectrum lost over 1 million, DIRECTV lost 1.8 million, and DISH lost 945,000.
Many cable TV and network executives expected streaming services to help offset these losses, but that has not happened. In 2023, YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling TV, and Fubo added a total of 1,894,000 subscribers. YouTube TV accounted for the majority of this growth, adding 1.9 million subscribers. In 2023, Hulu added 100,000 live TV consumers, while Fubo gained 173,000 subscribers. At the same time, Sling TV lost 279,000 customers by 2023.
This is extremely terrible news for cable TV networks, which had hoped that live TV streaming would help keep their networks operational. Instead, an increasing number of Americans are choosing to on-demand streaming services such as Disney+, Hulu, Max, and Paramount+, to name a few. This could be one of the reasons Warner Bros. Discovery recently revealed that TruTV is being refocused as a sports network.
Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and other free ad-supported streaming services have all grown rapidly. This is due to the fact that there is now more content than ever before that is completely free of charge with adverts.
If the current trend of cord cutting continues, Cord Cutters News predicts that there will be about 8 million new cord cutters in 2024.
In sum, combining all live TV services, including cable TV, satellite, and streaming, the number of individuals paying for channels such as ESPN fell by more than 5 million in 2023.
With these stats, you can see why Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery are planning to launch their own sports-focused live TV streaming service later this year. This strategy cuts out the middleman, allowing them to be more profitable.
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