Google YouTube TV, a service in the live TV space, has been growing, with all other live TV services shrinking as of Q1 this year, according to 9to5 Google.
Live TV in the U.S. is essentially available in one of two ways, including traditional cable and online streaming services. YouTube TV continues to dominate the online service space, with more than 5 million subscribers as of last year.
Research firm MoffettNathanson this week shed new light on the live TV market and YouTube TV revenue, with live TV services having fallen to their lowest point since 1992 as of the first quarter of 2023, with only 58.5 percent of U.S. households subscribing to some form of pay TV (the report shows cable and Internet services included). For cable providers, the decline is nearly as great as the decline in pay TV subscriptions. For cable providers, the decline is nearly 10 percent, while satellite providers are down more than 13 percent.
CordCuttersNews cited the same report to highlight that the situation is no better for online live TV services. Hulu, which supports Live TV, reportedly lost 100,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2023, while Sling TV lost 200,000 and FuboTV lost about 160,000 subscribers.
According to the report, Google YouTube TV was the only provider to gain new subscribers in the first quarter of 2023, with an influx of 300,000 subscribers, bringing the total number of subscribers to 6.3 million for the service, despite YouTube TV raising its prices in March. Google has not officially confirmed the number, however.
