Global pay-TV penetration will see its first-ever yearly decline in 2024, according to research by Ampere Analysis. The drop will follow pay-TV penetration peaking at 60.3 per cent in Q4 2023 according to the research, which forecasts that by 2028 global pay-TV penetration will have fallen by almost four percentage points. In North America, pay-TV […]

Charter Communications has revealed that its Spectrum brand has lost 320,000 TV subs in the third quarter of 2023. It also reported that it paid out $68 million in customer credits due to its carriage dispute with Disney that led to a blackout. “We continue to make significant progress against the multi-year strategic initiatives we […]

Walt Disney and Charter Communications have agreed to end a dispute over fees and terms after a 10-day ‘go dark’ stand-off. Disney will now allow Charter to offer some of its ad-supported streaming channels — including Disney+ and ESPN+ — to its customers as part of a ‘wholesale’ arrangement. Full programming has been restored to […]

Paramount CEO Bob Bakish says the stand-off between Charter and Disney is an “inevitable” consequence of the trends in DTC and pay-TV and their apparent incompatibility. He says ralationships have to “modernise” and says his company is a good example. “Frankly, it wasn’t a surprise, the exact timing was, but it was inevitable that something […]

Going dark is an extreme, but not very unusual, tactic when MSOs are negotiating package carriage deals with content companies. So far, so what? as Charter – America’s #2 cable operator – dims the lights on Disney’s channels as contract talks drag. What is different, is that Charter hasn’t shied away from (quite the opposite) […]

Charter Communications, where top Disney channels are blacked out from its 14.7 million US subscribers, sees its talks with Disney as a chance to fix a broken TV model. “Disney and Charter have the opportunity to work together on transforming the industry for the long-term benefit of both companies and consumers — but we are […]

Findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that the largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 92 per cent of the market – lost about 5,880,000 net video subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma net loss of about 4,700,000 in 2021.The top pay-TV providers now account for about 70.2 million subscribers – […]

Findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that the largest cable and wireline phone providers and fixed wireless services in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – acquired about 3,500,000 net additional broadband subscribers in 2022, compared to a pro forma gain of about 3,725,000 subscribers in 2021. These top broadband […]

Investment bank Exane/BNPP, in a major examination of US cable (The Twilight of Cable) says that while the first half of 2023 might see some gentle recovery from the 52-week ‘lows’ in December, there will be more pain to come. “We think near term sub growth (from promotional activity) and broadband price increases can flatter […]

Xumo, the streaming platform joint venture between US multiplay operators Comcast and Charter, and Element Electronics are to launch a new line of 4K Ultra HD smart TVs, across the US in 2023. Xumo was formed to develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs. […]