USA Cord-Cutting Slows in Third Quarter, But Pay TV Is Still Shrinking

The U.S. pay TV sector collectively dropped 113,000 subscribers in the third quarter — capping the worst 12-month period of losses for the industry — but the pace of consumers cutting the cord has slowed down, according to Wall Street analyst firm MoffettNathanson.

The Q3 decline represents a 0.2% drop in pay TV households year over year, with cable operators sustaining the biggest hit with a net loss of 687,000 video customers, analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson estimated in a report.

The contraction could have been worse: In the third quarter of 2013, housing starts decelerated with 366,000 fewer new occupied dwelling units than a year earlier, according to the report. “What is perhaps more interesting than the fact that pay TV declined is that it didn’t decline more than it did,” Moffett and Nathanson said.http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/cord-cutting-slows-in-third-quarter-but-pay-tv-is-still-shrinking-1200822967/#