Cable subscription numbers are still cratering for cable outlets such as ESPN, ESPNU, NBCSN, BTN, and FS1 and others. However, ESPN continues to lead the way in subscriber losses.
The numbers for July to August are in, and they show that many sports cable networks are still losing millions of subscribers month over month, Awful Announcing reported.
According to the number revealed, subscriber numbers saw a decrease over the July-August period falling 166,000 and 384,000 respectively to 95,870,000 and 92,258,000 homes.
As Awful Announcing noted:
All of the big sports networks posted significant July-August losses, with ESPN (-290,000), NBCSN (-224,000) and FS1 (-147,000) each taking hits. ESPN remains in the lead amongst those three when it comes to remaining subscribers with 85,895,000, while FS1 (83,286,000) is back ahead of NBCSN (83,281,000).
In addition, ESPNU lost 632,000 subscribers.
The numbers overall, including the other, non-sports cable networks, show that cable TV viewership is continuing to crash as people head to Internet-based streaming services. However, sports numbers in particular are down.
ESPN has been especially hard hit. In April alone, for instance, the network lost another 500,000 subscribers. The average loss comes down to about 17,000 customers a day who have quit their ESPN habit. ESPN and ESPNU lost a combined 922,000 subscribers.
The nation’s oldest cable sports network has lost around 14 million subscribers over the last seven years, and the decline shows no indication of slowing.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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