Cord Cutting Continues to Ravage Cable, Satellite Companies as Consumers Opt for Streaming

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AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File

Consumers are ditching their traditional TV subscriptions in massive numbers, spelling more bad news for cable and satellite companies.

The Leichtman Research Group said in a recently published study that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., which represent about 93 percent of the market, lost about 1.5 million net video subscribers in the second quarter, compared to a net loss of about 420,000 subscribers in the same period last year.

“This marked the fourth consecutive quarter of record pay-TV industry net losses,” noted Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, in the report.

The study found that cable companies lost 455,263 subscribers in the second quarter, versus a loss of about 275,000 subscribers a year ago. Satellite TV services lost about 855,000 subscribers during the quarter, compared to a net loss of about 480,000 subscribers a year ago.

Consumers are cancelling their cable and satellite TV subscriptions in droves as they migrate to streaming services. The trend is particularly pronounced among younger consumers who prefer Netflix and YouTube over traditional TV.

“The read on traditional cord-cutting is freaking ugly,” MoffettNathanson principal analyst Craig Moffett said in a separate report.

Breitbart previously reported that last year, the number of households who cut their cable or satellite television packages doubled to nearly three million, from 1.5 million cancellations in 2017.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

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