Traditional Cable Subscribers Plunge by 7.2 Million in 2020

The number of traditional pay-TV subscribers dropped by 7.2 million in 2020 as viewers switched to streaming services during the pandemic, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Kagan unit.

The news was reported Monday by Broadcasting+Cable.

"Americans continue to leave traditional video services in droves," Tony Lenoir, a senior analyst with Kagan, said.

Kagan said that virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) had helped stave off the loss, but did not make up for the cable, telephone line and satellite declines.

Combined traditional and virtual subscriptions fell below 67% by the end of the year, and homes with a traditional multichannel subscription was below 57%, Kagan's research found.

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