PTC Says Pay TV Industry Losses Could Be Solved by Increased Consumer Choice

LOS ANGELES (May 13, 2020) – The Parents Television Council is urging the pay TV industry to give consumers à la carte cable choice in response to severe subscriber losses they have experienced over the last three months.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “The largest cable and satellite TV companies lost more than two million customers in the first three months of the year, the industry’s sharpest quarterly decline on record, as restaurants, bars and hotels hit by the coronavirus pandemic joined consumers canceling or pausing service.”

“There is a simple solution for the pay TV industry to retain – and indeed restore – its rapidly-shrinking market: Give consumers à la carte cable choice, the ability to choose and pay for only the cable networks they want. While the world of commerce has embraced greater flexibility to tailor its products based on the unique needs of its customers, the cable industry stubbornly clings to its one-size-fits-all TV bundle,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“The irony of all this is that network programmers are increasingly offering their own content on an á la carte basis via mobile apps and other direct-to-customer subscription services; yet they do so while prohibiting the cable, satellite and telco distributors from having the ability to sell networks on an á la carte basis.

“The pandemic is causing changes to accelerate rapidly – especially with the explosive growth in streaming media platforms, and especially when live sporting events are being sidelined. As long as customers are forced to pay for bundles of unwanted networks in order to get the programming they want to watch, the cable industry will ensure its own flightless future – just like the dodo bird.”