• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Techcord cutting

Cable and Satellite TV Lost 1 Million Subscribers Because of Cord Cutting

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 14, 2018, 4:59 PM ET

Cord cutting continues to take a toll on cable and satellite television.

The industry lost 1.2 million video subscribers in the third quarter, for a total of 91 million subscribers, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Kagan research group.

The declining popularity of paid TV services come amid the rise of newer paid Internet-streaming services like Hulu and Google’s YouTube, which include traditional broadcasting networks and sports channels. Many traditional paid TV subscribers are canceling their service and instead switching to online equivalents.

The direct broadcast satellite sector was hit particularly hard, losing 726,000 subscribers during the three months ending Sept. 30, the report said. Kagan described it as that sector’s “worst quarter on record.”

Additionally, 94,000 subscribers dropped their telco TV packages during the quarter, with Verizon losing roughly 63,000 subscribers, the analysts noted.

In discussing cable alone, Kagan used a different yardstick—subscriber losses over the first nine months of 2018. On that longer basis, cable operators lost nearly 1.1 million subscribers, which Kagan noted marked “their worst performance at the three-quarter mark since 2014.”

In response to the losses, traditional broadcasting networks like ESPN are trying to do an end-run around paid TV providers by debuting their own paid subscription services. Even entertainment giant Disney (which owns a stake in ESPN) plans to introduce a streaming video service next year.

The Kagan report follows a recent eMarketer forecast that estimated that by 2021, roughly 51 million people will forego their cable or satellite TV subscription plans. Newer, cheaper television subscription plans from Dish Network’s Sling TV and YouTube were cited as a big reason for the expected drop.

And indeed some of those newer Internet services can be cheaper than the conventional TV subscription packages, as research firm cg42 noted in July. The report said that cord cutters typically pay $118 monthly for their services instead of $203 for traditional subscriptions.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Kagan also noted that they now include Internet TV providers like Hulu, YouTube, Sony’s PlayStation Vue, and Sling TV in its tracking reports. This will help show how many people flee the traditional players to the newcomers.

Those newer services grew a combined 2.1 million subscriptions over a 9-month period, compared to the cable and satellite sectors which experienced a drop of 2.8 million subscribers, the report said.

 

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
'I meant what I said in Davos': Carney says he really is planning a Canada split with the U.S. along with 12 new trade deals
By Rob Gillies and The Associated PressJanuary 28, 2026
13 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
Yes, you're getting a bigger tax refund. Your kids won't thank you for the $3 trillion it's adding to the deficit
By Daniel BunnJanuary 26, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
Fortune 500 CEOs are no longer giving employees an A for effort. Now they want proof of impact
By Claire ZillmanJanuary 28, 2026
20 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
Ryan Serhant thinks the American Dream was just a 'slogan created by banks,' but it was really about FDR, the Great Depression, and an economic crisis
By Sydney Lake and Nick LichtenbergJanuary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, January 27, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 27, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
As AI wipes out desk jobs, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser says the company is training 175,000 employees to ‘reinvent themselves’ before their roles change forever
By Emma BurleighJanuary 27, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in Tech

Big TechTesla
Tesla reveals $2 billion investment in Elon Musk’s xAI and officially kills the Model S and Model X
By Jessica MathewsJanuary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
Bald man with glasses and black shirt.
Big TechFortune 500
Microsoft demand backlog doubles to $625 billion thanks to OpenAI, but hefty spending and slower revenue growth spook investors
By Amanda GerutJanuary 28, 2026
2 hours ago
MagazineSamsung
How Samsung’s first-ever chief design officer is reinventing the electronics giant for the AI age
By Nicholas GordonJanuary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc
AIMeta
Meta beats on Q4 revenue as Mark Zuckerberg predicts a ‘major AI acceleration’ in 2026—with up to $135 billion in capex spending to match
By Sharon GoldmanJanuary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott
InvestingServiceNow
ServiceNow stock falls despite earnings beat as CEO Bill McDermott tries to get investors to stop thinking of it as a SaaS company
By Jeremy KahnJanuary 28, 2026
6 hours ago
people with masks over their faces sit cross-legged, crowded next to each other
CryptoCryptocurrency
Judge hits Chinese crypto scammer who helped swindle $37 million from U.S. victims with 46-month sentence
By Carlos GarciaJanuary 28, 2026
8 hours ago