THE WORST OF CORD-CUTTING MIGHT BE OVER IN NORTH AMERICA

The number of pay TV subscribers in Canada and the United States will fall by 43 million from 116 million in the peak year of 2010 to 74 million in 2026. The United States will lose 41 million, with Canada down by nearly 2 million, according to new data from Digital TV Research.

The number of pay TV subscribers plummeted by 27 million between 2010 and 2020, down by 6 million in both 2019 and 2020. According to the researcher, pay television penetration will drop from 90.5% in 2010 to 53.6% by 2026.

“The worst of the cord-cutting is over. Declines will be lower from 2021, falling by 16 million in total between 2020 and 2026. Only 5 million digital cable TV subscribers will be lost. Satellite TV will fall by 7.5 million and IPTV by 3.4 million subscribers,”  assured Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research.

In terms of the business generated by the universe of subscribers, the “North America Pay TV Forecasts” report found that pay TV revenues peaked in 2015 at $111 billion. Revenues are projected to fall by $49 billion to $62 billion in 2026.