vMVPDs lost a record number of subscribers in 1Q2025

telcodad

While subscriber losses among traditional pay-TV providers (cable, satellite and telcos) lessened in the first quarter of this year, losses for virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) worsened:

Virtual MVPDs lose record 1.04M subscribers in Q1 – report
A poor showing for YouTube TV and other virtual MVPDs helped drive a record loss of 2.47 million subs for US pay-TV in Q1, says MoffettNathanson. Traditional pay-TV services struggled too, but the rate of loss actually improved.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - June 11, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/video-streaming/virtual-mvpds-lose-record-1-04m-subscribers-in-q1-report

The US pay-TV sector lost a record 2.47 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2025. However, in a paradoxical twist that emerged in the prior quarter, sub losses among traditional pay-TV providers (cable, satellite and telcos) improved while losses for virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) worsened, MoffettNathanson estimates that vMVPDs, a group that includes Sling TV, Philo, YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo and the streaming version of DirecTV, lost 1.04 million subs in Q1 versus a year-ago loss of 469 million.
:
Coming off another price increase, YouTube TV shed an estimated 500,000 subs in Q1. Meanwhile, DirecTV’s streaming option was the only vMVPD to add subs in Q1, with a gain of about 57,000. ….

HooRU

TV has become tedious at times. The crappifying of the Discovery group of channels is an example. There used to be intelligent content, now it’s, sorry, crap.

I mostly watch youtube.

telcodad

HooRU The crappifying of the Discovery group of channels is an example. There used to be intelligent content, now it’s, sorry, crap.

Yeah, I used to watch the Discovery Channel a lot years ago, with shows like MythBusters, How it’s Made, BattleBots, Dirty Jobs, Moonshiners. Storm Chasers, etc.

Now the only shows I watch on that are Josh Gate’s Expedition Unknown and Expedition Files.

HooRU

“Reality” TV ruined subscription TV. It was a moronic idea, by going on polls and ratings rather than vanguarding new and better content. Letting the uninformed uneducated TV Viers decide, instead of experienced producers, what direction TV should go ruined things.

InternetJeff

HooRU Letting the uninformed uneducated TV Viers decide, instead of experienced producers, what direction TV should go ruined things.

The way it works is that content is made that people will want to watch. That’s what “experienced producers” do if they are to be successful. There is no accounting for taste in “art”. It is all subjective by its very nature.

Belittling consumers of your product as “uninformed” and “uneducated” is not something a successful producer is going to do for very long and stay in business.

Andyross

telcodad For awhile, some of the non-reality shows ended up on Science. Mysteries of the Abandoned started there, then moved to Discovery. Still, it airs just out of prime time (11pm ET).

To be honest, History is the only real cable channel I watch regularly. I have Philo for that, and the occasional show on Comedy Central or Nickelodeon (SpongeBob!).

telcodad

Andyross To be honest, History is the only real cable channel I watch regularly.

I watch the History channel also, along with the Science channel too.

WalterDnes

InternetJeff The way it works is that content is made that people will want to watch. That’s what “experienced producers” do if they are to be successful. There is no accounting for taste in “art”. It is all subjective by its very nature.

Another consideration is cost. The cast of a reality show usually consists of a bunch of nobody’s, who are earning Hollywood minimum rates. None of this stuff about Seinfeld getting a million dollars per episode. https://www.therichest.com/you-wouldnt-believe-how-much-jerry-seinfeld-earned-from-seinfeld/

Producing a reality show ends up costing a lot less than producing a conventional scripted show. You can make more NET PROFIT from a smaller viewer audience.

HooRU

InternetJeff Jeff, you argue with every single thing I and others say.

I’m sorry, but uninformed dingbats watch the Kardashiuns or whoever they are. Or Jersy Shore or Real Housewives or Below Deck.

When they had shows like Connections, informed viewers got their minds opened and were edified. Now TV is like Social Media, filled with bullying and ignorance.

If you defend that, I don’t know how to respond to you.

HooRU

If I ran a network, I would set trends, not follow them. I would create new things to poll, not stay stuck in horse mud ratings games. You build it and they come. If I wanted to give people what they want, I’md do hare kare here for folks viewing pleasure. If there was a poll, many would vote for that.

Just because lemmings drown themselves doesn’t mean a producer should chase after them.

Connections was wildly popular and is on Curiosity Stream now, but the man is old and he can’t keep doing it. I do not watch any of the discovery channels out of principle. I watch PBS and Curiosity Stream. At least NOVA, Frontline, and Secrets of the Dead AND Know your Roots feed my mind with better entertainment that tells me I’m still intelligent.

HooRU

Heck, even the reality shows on PBS are of a higher standard, like Antique Road Show. If I could still afford it I’d have dept Britox also.

lesmikesell

HooRU Just because lemmings drown themselves doesn’t mean a producer should chase after them.

Art for art’s sake might be fun for you, but streaming stuff is cheap and has to have a mass market to sustain it.

InternetJeff

HooRU If you defend that, I don’t know how to respond to you.

I don’t defend or watch “reality TV”. I merely explained how successful content works. If enough people watch it, it is popular. If it is popular, it has good ratings. If it has good ratings, advertisers pay to advertise on a show. The better the ratings, the more they pay to advertise on a show. It makes money and is successful, just like any other successful product.

HooRU you argue with every single thing I and others say.

Actually, I rarely respond to you, so you’ve probably got me mixed up with someone else.

MacLeech

HooRU Realize a large segment of TV viewers watch TV to purposely disconnect from reality. They want to be entertained and not have to think. Some want to see the rich and famous so they can live vicariously through them. Another segment may want to see someone in a worse situation than themselves so they can feel better about their own situation. Some watch sports or politics and learn all the stats so they can feel like they’re a part of the team, especially if it’s winning. etc., etc.

It’s all a break from reality, it’s fantasy and entertainment. People stop watching if it gets too real. The stay around because people keep watching.

JRB-Ware

HooRU If I wanted to give people what they want, I’md do hare kare here for folks viewing pleasure.

???

What is “hare kare”? Is that some kind of rabbit reality show?

WalterDnes

JRB-Ware What is “hare kare”? Is that some kind of rabbit reality show?

Actually spelled “Harakiri” and also known as “Seppuku”. It’s a grisly Japanese form of ritual suicide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

px_eliezer_

Andyross To be honest, History is the only real cable channel I watch regularly.

Frndly TV offers History channel, at lower cost than Philo.
https://clark.com/streaming-tv/frndly-tv-review/

Frndly saves money by leaving out the vowels.

telcodad

px_eliezer_ Frndly saves money by leaving out the vowels.

If you don’t count “y” 🙂

Andyross

px_eliezer_ I originally got Philo due to other channels Frndly doesn’t carry. Also, from some comments, the DVR doesn’t have slideshow for FF/Rew or ad skipping like Philo.

px_eliezer_

telcodad If you don’t count “y”

Vanna White says that “Y” is a consonant, and she’s the boss. 🙂

(The letter “Y” cannot be purchased on Wheel of Fortune).