Are We Over Pay TV? DirecTV Lost Subscribers For The First Time Ever

Have you been staring sullenly at your cable or satellite bill, wishing you maybe didn’t have to pay so much for TV anymore? Seems some customers are getting turned off pay-TV services, as DirecTV says it’s finally losing subscribers for the first time, with a downturn of 52,000 customers between April and June. It added 26,000 customers in the same time frame last year, which is the toughest time of the season for luring in new customers.

It’s not just DirecTV, either, notes the Associated Press: As a whole, consumers’ enthusiasm toward pay-TV seems to be waning. Comcast did okay, reporting reduced losses, whereas Time Warner Cable announced it leaked a personal record of 169,000 subscribers in the second quarter.

Plenty of students leaving school and customers who head to summer homes cancel their TV subscriptions right in that second quarter, which makes the time period a sad one overall for TV companies for the last two years.

Even if satellite and cable companies make up for the weak period with gains at other times of the year, it’s not enough and isn’t rising as the population grows. This could mean we’re just sick of paying for TV or are unable to afford it, and are turning to cheaper streaming methods online. That’s something cable and satellite providers have been increasingly worried about, as Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon start to offer cheaper options for fulfilling our entertainment needs.

We’re sure some customers will need to have their cable and satellite remotes pried from their cold dead hands, but this loss in subscribers might just signal a pretty significant sea change in how we get our TV kicks.

Whether you’ve fled to the loving arms of streaming online TV or are considering a move, feel free to let your grievances against (or praise for) pay-TV fly in the comments.

DirecTV loses subscribers for first time in 2Q [Associated Press]

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