Pay-TV Users Are Bailing Faster Than Ever, Clouding Media Stocks
- Cable, satellite providers lose half a million subscribers
- Cheaper, slimmer online alternatives keep luring users away
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U.S. cable and satellite-TV providers suffered their worst first quarter of subscriber losses in history, raising fresh concerns that cord-cutting will accelerate and drag down media stocks.
Charter Communications Inc., Dish Network Corp., AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV and Verizon Communications Inc. combined to lose almost half a million video subscribers in the period, as more consumers spurned the cost and clutter of traditional pay-TV packages for cheaper online alternatives. Only Comcast Corp. added customers.