Time Warner Cable loses 128K viewers, denies cord-cutting
updated 01:25 pm EDT, Thu October 27, 2011
Time Warner Cable 3Q results show 128K TV loss
Time Warner Cable just posted its third-quarter subscriber numbers, which reveal there are 128,000 less subscribers to its video services this quarter. The total number of subscribers lost is just 16,000, though, thanks to the addition of 89,000 residential web subscribers. While the cord-cutting syndrome, which involves users getting rid of cable subscriptions in favor of web ones and accessing all multimedia content from the web and streaming video services or others, there are some arguments against this trend, AllThingsD argues.
These include competition from the likes of Verizon for web access and satellite TV services from companies such as DirecTV. The increase to subscribers could also mean the same: people are using two different companies for web and TV access.
Time Warner Cable is reluctant to admit the numbers are a sign of cord-cutting, instead attributing the losses to a weak economy and its subscribers cutting costs. This has often been at least somewhat true, although many of those citing economic reasons are now using Internet video as a substitute.
