Traditional/Streaming Live TV Providers Losses, 3rd Quarter 2026 Edition

[Bruce]

Comcast is the first to report, with a massive 274,000 loss in video subscribers.

In the 3Q of 2016, Comcast had 21.42 million video subscribers and was the #1 provider, now at 10.39 million and is the #3 Provider, YTTV is #2 ( who also surpassed DirecTV-8 Million and Dish-under 5 Million), Charter/Spectrum is #1.

Comcast Just Lost 274,000 TV Customers & 144,000 Internet Customers In Just Three Months | Cord Cutters News

Comcast Corporation reported its third-quarter 2026 results on October 22, showing continued erosion in its domestic residential broadband internet and video customer bases as competitive pressures intensified across the connectivity market. The company recorded a net loss of 144,000 domestic...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[dishstaller]

Losing 144,000 internet customers surprises me more.

 

[savarese04]

Losing 144,000 internet customers surprises me more.

people are moving to fiber, which is better up and down and also not Comcast.

 

[dishdude]

people are moving to fiber, which is better up and down and also not Comcast.

Losing 144,000 internet customers surprises me more.

Cord cutting 2.0. Not just fiber, 5G is really taking a toll on the cable companies.

 

[AZ.]

Cord cutting 2.0. Not just fiber, 5G is really taking a toll on the cable companies.

I agree, for $35 it aint perfect but just as reliable as my cable was. And that was twice as much and still rising

 

[ncted]

Comcast called fiber pricing "irrational" because the ROI is over three years. What is irrational to me is Comcast internet is based on lines they put in the ground decades ago at this point, for the most part. Is copper that much more expensive to maintain?

 

[brice52]

Comcast called fiber pricing "irrational" because the ROI is over three years. What is irrational to me is Comcast internet is based on lines they put in the ground decades ago at this point, for the most part. Is copper that much more expensive to maintain?

yes. even copper lines in a house degrade over 70 years, I doubt coax would last that long. Fiber Optic on the isp side will last over 70 years with very dedgration

 

[(((Garyd)))]

yes. even copper lines in a house degrade over 70 years, I doubt coax would last that long. Fiber Optic on the isp side will last over 70 years with very dedgration

The fiber coming in to the house looks like 300 ohm old TV wire I think that is the weak point.

 

[Jimbo]

The fiber coming in to the house looks like 300 ohm old TV wire I think that is the weak point.

The weak point would be the connection between the outdoor feed and the indoor feed.

 

[Jimbo]

yes. even copper lines in a house degrade over 70 years, I doubt coax would last that long. Fiber Optic on the isp side will last over 70 years with very dedgration

Copper lines are fine ... until it hits the AIR.

 

[Bruce]

Losing 144,000 internet customers surprises me more.

They have been losing broadband subscribers for about 4 years now.

 

[brice52]

The fiber coming in to the house looks like 300 ohm old TV wire I think that is the weak point.

I agree, even it fails the isp will come and install another one

 

[Bruce]

Charter lost 77,000 TV subscribers, the bigger news, it lost 233,000 broadband subscribers.

You would believe both companies would of learned from what happened with their TV services, which was ignore that cord cutting was a thing, allowed competition ( streaming) to get a foothold in the industry.

Now, in today's world, there are more households in the United States without a paid live TV than those with.

Both companies charge too much, delayed upgrades, all because they believed no one would leave them, only game in town, competition started with the 5G services, Fiber soon after, enough said, Cord Cutting 2.0 is here.

Spectrum Loses 233,000 Internet and 77,000 TV Customers in Third Quarter As Cord Cutting 2.0 Grows | Cord Cutters News

Charter Communications reported a further erosion of its core broadband base in the third quarter of 2026, with Spectrum losing 233,000 Internet customers on a pro forma basis that incorporates the recently completed Cox acquisition. Residential accounts accounted for nearly all of the decline...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[dishstaller]

Got to admit I never thought I'd see the day that cable lost internet subs.

 

[Ronnie-]

Got to admit I never thought I'd see the day that cable lost internet subs.

I think the cable companies didnt either, back when they had no real competition in their footprint.

But today, for many, maybe even most, cable isnt the only choice, or even the best.

 

[NYDutch]

I think the cable companies didnt either, back when they had no real competition in their footprint.

But today, for many, maybe even most, cable isnt the only choice, or even the best.

In my new apartment, my only choice is Spectrum due to the cost, just $30/mo for 100 Mbps service. And just the other day, I received a notice that I can have Amazon Prime at no cost through Spectrum. I already had Prime, but when I activated the Spectrum deal, I received a $75 refund on my annual subscription. I don't know how widespread the offer is being made, but it sure looks like they're trying to hang on to Internet subscribers.

 

[ncted]

All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.

 

[NYDutch]

All my parents had to do to get a discount on Spectrum Internet is say the words "Verizon Home Internet," and they cut the price by $30/month.

I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.

 

[ncted]

I don't think they'll go below the current $30 price since it's part of a deal they have with the non- profit that owns the apartment building.

Yeah, I was just saying Spectrum suddenly wants to keep what customers they can.

 

[Tom Speer]

Optimum, which bought up our previous cable company, Suddenlink (originally COX), replac ed all of their coax disdripution with Fiber several years ago. They ran new fiber links to the house, but installed RFOG (RF over glass) devices on the outside of the house, which makes the house coax system look like a cable system. They used DOCSIS modems and of course we had the same assymetric bandwidth of cable internet. When I called them a couple years ago, and said I had installed a connection to the local Fiber provideer, MetroNet, They panicked and offered me the 300 MBit "Fiber powered" cable service for $20 per month. They were bleeding customers. I cancelled my Metronet and went with the $20 deal for a year, even though I didn't like the old cable technology.

Then T-moble Fiber struck a deal with Metronet Fiber where T-mobile would take over the marketing, billing and customer relations for residential Customers. They offered a "Founders Deal" for 2 Gigabit service, symmetric speeds, for $70 per month for new customers. That included all taxes and fees and was guaranteed for 10 years. I couldn't resist. That deal is no longer offered, but I am set for 9 more years.

Now the successaor to the old local telephone company, Brightspeed has also installed a modern Fiber system in the neighborhood, but won't be getting my business. But their Fiber technology is also superior to Optimums cable based system.

With Fiber competition, the cable companies are eventually doomed.