Cord-cutting trend slows in first half of year: Boon Dog

Fewer people cut their TV subscriptions in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to new research by research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services Inc., effectively “bucking the trend of accelerating TV cord-cutting in recent years.” The Canadian publicly traded TV service providers lost a combined 22 per cent fewer subscribers during that period, said a press release Monday, issued in advance of an upcoming Boon Dog report. The companies, which already reported their second quarter earnings, lost 101,000 TV subscribers in the first two quarters, which is down from 129,000 lost in the same quarters last year. The companies include BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, Cogeco Inc. and Telus Corp. Mario Mota, TV analyst and partner at Boon Dog, noted in the release that Shaw’s cable performance with the launch of its BlueSky TV service on Comcast Corp.’s X1 platform “is almost entirely behind the improved” numbers in 2017. “Should Shaw continue its momentum and other cable companies benefit from similar planned TV service improvements, TV cord-cutting could slow in 2017 for the first time in years,” Mota added. In an April note, Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang noted that it was still too soon to see the benefits of BlueSky, which was launched at the beginning of the year. Rogers killed its plans to make its own IPTV platform and instead said last year it would run on the X1 platform. Between Feb. 28 and May 31, Shaw reported total TV gains of 3,316, the release said. Meanwhile, Telus saw gains of 11,000 between March 31 and June 30. Those gains were offset by Bell’s 20,893, Rogers’ 49,000, Videotron’s 34,200 and Cogeco’s 11,154 TV losses, the press release said. The numbers suggest a dramatic rebound from 2015, when TV customer losses were five times more than in 2014. However, the numbers had appeared to level out in 2016, according to numbers compiled by the Wire Report. Mota added in the release, however, that TV service providers are “losing pace” with household growth in the country and “therefore TV subscription penetration is declining at a greater level than simply the cord-cutting numbers suggest.”

Cord-cutting trend slows in first half of year: Boon Dog

Brief | August 14, 2017

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Cord-cutting trend slows in first half of year: Boon Dog

Brief | August 14, 2017

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