US PAY-TV Disruption And Consolidation How Streaming Video And Cord Cutting Are Re-Shaping US Pay-TV
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The 20,000 Foot View
2015 was a year of unparalleled transition for US pay-TV. AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV catapulted the communications company to the front of the pack with a combined subscriber base of million, reaching nearly a quarter of US households. Meanwhile regulators blocked Comcast’s year long bid for Time Warner, enabling rival Charter Communications to move in on the newly vulnerable target. At the same time Altice firmly established itself in the US top ten with its purchase of a majority stake in Suddenlink Communications, followed in September by the acquisition of Cablevision.
Key Findings
- Total Subscribers the top ten US pay-TV declined in 2015 from million 2014 to million in 2015, decline of of the US top ten operators experienced subscriber falls in 2015
- AT&T’s new pay-TV subscriber base was flat million compared to 2013 but obscures a loss of half million U-verse subscribers in 2015
- Both domestic and outside acquisitions are consolidating market
- Including SVOD, US pay-TV subscriber base grew in 2015, up from million million
- The US subscriber base increased by million 2015, representing a increase and the SVOD share of the market to
- SVOD services growing the US pay-TV subscriber but their much lower pricing lead to a longer term in ARPU
- Multiplay is ‘unfair’ advantage and will enable to offset decreases in TV due to SVOD
Companies mentioned in this report: Amazon Prime, Altice, AT&T U-verse, Bright House, Comcast, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Discovery Communications, Dish Network, Disney, ESPN, Hulu, Mediacom, Netflix, New Corp, Sling, Suddenlink, Verizon FIOS