DATA MINE
AFTER HUGE 2020, CABLE NOW CONTROLS NEARLY 70% OF U.S. WIRELINE BROADBAND
MCN’S MOST VIEWED Top stories on multichannel.com, March 3-10 1. Charter Says Broadband-Only Customers Are Now Using 700 GB of Data Per Month
THE EIGHT BIGGEST U.S. cable companies collectively added 4.819 million wireline broadband customers in 2020 and now control approximately 69% of the U.S. fixed internet market. The 4.86 million total fixed broadband customers added last year by the 16 largest providers, accounting for 96% of cable and telco customers, were the most since 2008, according to Leichtman Research Group (LRG). Telcos collectively added 39,535 to the total, a huge turnaround from losing 590,000 in 2019. The overall pandemic-year customer growth performance represented a 190% uptick over the industry’s 2019 expansion. The surge by cable providers, which generally offer customers more bandwidth than telcos, was led by Charter Communications, which added 2.215 million
BROADBAND PROVIDERS
customers, and Comcast, with 1.971 million net new broadband subscribers. LRG president and principal analyst Bruce Leichtman, who has been tracking the U.S. broadband industry since 2001, said he can’t remember a time when cable’s share of the market was bigger. “With the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there were more net broadband additions in 2020 than in any year since 2008,” he said. “The top cable and telco broadband providers in the U.S. cumulatively added about 4,860,000 subscribers in 2020, compared to about 5,100,000 subscribers in 2018 and 2019 combined.” Verizon Communications led all telco providers with 173,000 customer additions. — Daniel Frankel For more stories like this, go to nexttv.com.
SUBSCRIBERS AT END OF Q4
NET ADDS IN 2020
2. Charter’s Spectrum TV App Blackout on Roku Edges Toward Two-Month Mark
COMCAST
30,600,000
1,971,000
3. Tegna President Dave Lougee Apologizes For Mistaking Black Board Candidate for Valet
CHARTER
28,879,000
2,215,000
COX *
5,380,000
210,000
ALTICE **
4,359,200
142,200
4. DirecTV’s Over 3 Million Lost Customers In 2020 Accounted for Nearly Half Of All Cord-Cutting
MEDIACOM
1,438,000
110,000
**
857,000
101,000
5. Comcast: Streaming Accounted for 71% Of Downstream Traffic Last Year
WOW (WIDEOPENWEST)
813,800
32,300
ATLANTIC BROADBAND**
504,621
37,871
72,831,621
4,819,371
To read these stories, go to multichannel.com.
CABLE ONE
TOTAL TOP CABLE SOURCE: The companies and Leichtman Research Group. LRG estimate *
**
Includes recent small acquisitions/sales and LRG pro forma estimates
STICKIEST SHOWS Top 10 cable programs ranked by viewer engagement Ratings Rank
Telecast (Week Ending Feb. 28)
Network
Stickiness Index*
1
32
It Was Always You
Hallmark Channel
156
2
91
The Walking Dead
AMC
148
3
139
Tyler Perry's Sistas
BET
148
4
54
90 Day Fiance
TLC
144
5
46
When Calls the Heart
Hallmark Channel
142
6
133
Girl in the Basement
Lifetime
139
7
50
The Curse of Oak Island
History
139
8
884
La Rosa de Guadalupe
Galavisión
136
9
202
Married at First Sight
Lifetime
135
10
138
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Bravo
134
Stickiness Rank
The Walking Dead: AMC; Charter
*
The Stickiness Index looks at viewer engagement based on several factors. A higher number indicates more of the audience is tuned in for the duration of the telecast. * TV Engagement ratings powered by Comscore’s TV Essentials. (Sorted by social media activity.)
Multichannel.com
27