MUMBAI: Confirming that the cord cutting trend still prevails today, a report of research firm SNL Kagan revealed that pay-TV businesses lost 119,000 net subscribers in the US in the third quarter. This is the second consecutive quarter loss of pay-TV subscribers amid a weak economy.

The effect was even more significant for cable providers like Warner and Comcast that lost 741,000 customers while satellite providers and other companies gained 621,000 customers.
 
‘It is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss the impact of over-the-top substitution on video subscriber performance particularly after seeing declines during the period of the year that tends to produce the largest subscriber gains due to seasonal shifts back to television viewing and subscription packages,’ the Kagan report noted.

The quarterly performance reportedly represents only the second time the pay-TV business has lost customers. The recent quarter was topped by the previous quarter, when 216,000 subscribers terminated their service.
 
Most cable operators have denied the existence of ‘cord cutting’, arguing that the concept has yet to impact on subscriber numbers. Others claim that pay-TV providers will be the last to admit such a situation that may scare investors or lead more customers to consider ending their service.