U.S. CABLE MARKET TO REMAIN STABLE THROUGHOUT COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Moody’s reported that the U.S. cable industry will remain relatively stable despite the global COVID-19 pandemic. The findings also correlated with a recent Nielsen report, which suggested a 60% increase in content consumption during the pandemic, as further evidence that traditional TV viewership will rise. Analyst Jason Cuomo found that the U.S. cable sector has averaged 2.2% better growth than the U.S. GDP and the sector averaged an 8.2% higher revenue growth than the U.S GDP during the last economic downturn in 2018-2019. “Based on these reference points, the directional trends pre-crisis, and our expectation for increased broadband demand, we believe U.S. cable revenue growth is likely to outperform U.S. GDP by a substantial margin,” he wrote in a research note.

This week, Comcast announced that its linear video consumption increased 4 hours to 64 hours per week and that video-on-demand is increasing by 25% year after year. The company also mentioned that there has been a 38% increase in streaming and web video consumption. AT&T also released data that revealed a similar rise in video consumption on its video services, including DirecTV and AT&T TV. The company’s live viewing was up by 15% and free video-on-demand was up by almost 25% on 16-2- March, compared to 2-6 March. “Spikes in viewership of cable news is further support, and helps offset sports cancellations, which is the most-watched live TV content and draws the highest advertising rates,” Cuomo wrote.

The research also indicates a rise in viewing for entertainment programming, as well as a spike in subscription and on-demand service purchasing as a result of theatres shutting down. “During this temporary shutdown, we expect people to spend their movie budgets on over-the-top (OTT) streaming services offered by subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) providers, advertising video-on-demand (AVOD), and direct-to-consumer (DTC) providers as well as linear, video-on-demand services offered by cable operators,” he wrote. Despite the rise, companies like Comcast/NBCUniversal are being hurt in divisions outside of the cable. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the company is offering $500 million to support employees who were affected by the closure of theme parks and delayed release of theatrical films due to the coronavirus.