The “cord cutting” trend cable execs spent a decade claiming was a fad just broke another round of new records. According to Leichtman Research, major cable TV providers lost another 1.7 million subscribers last quarter, as users flock to streaming, over the air TV, TikTok, or, you know, books. Roughly 17,700 customers cut the cord every single day during the second quarter of 2023.

Over the last year (Q2 ’22 to Q2 ’23) the traditional cable TV sector lost a whopping 5,360,000 customers, compared to 4,235,000 customer defections the year earlier. The current number of U.S. households that has a cable connection sits somewhere around 46 percent, down from 73% at the end of 2017.

Historically, a big cable company like Comcast or Charter wasn’t too hurt by “cord cutting” because it could just jack up the cost of monopolized broadband access. And while that’s still generally true; here too cable giants are seeing increased competition from community broadband (co-ops, utilities, municipalities), 5G home wireless, and phone companies belatedly upgrading to fiber.

Interestingly though, streaming TV providers also wound up losing subscribers, albeit at a much slower rate:

  • Turkey_Titty_city
    link
    fedilink
    9
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    same here. i can pay 120 for cable tv and internet at 250mbps, or 100 for internet that is 50mbps.

    but my town is a monopoly. i have zero other internet/cable choices.

    • @lemmy___user
      link
      English
      41 year ago

      Holy crap, that almost double what I pay for a gigabit connection 🫠

      • Lith
        link
        fedilink
        English
        1
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I pay just short of $200/mo, same situation, okay internet bundled with cable I never use, alternative is awful internet for not much less. No other options. And I live in a big city. Effective monopolies are hell.

    • @shalafi
      link
      English
      01 year ago

      LOL, just commented that you’re free to enjoy satellite’s speed-of-light delays.