Cable channel subscribers grew for the first time in years last quarter

In a surprising twist for the television industry, cable channel subscriptions have seen an uptick, marking a notable shift in trends that have persisted for years. According to a recent report from MoffettNathanson, titled "Cord-Cutting Monitor Q3 2025: Signs of Life?", the combined subscriber base for pay TV services—including cable, satellite, and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) like YouTube TV and Fubo—added 303,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2025. This is the first instance since 2017 that MoffettNathanson can report an increase in linear video subscribers, a significant milestone given the industry’s ongoing struggles. In the same quarter of 2017, there was a net gain of 318,000 subscribers, but the trend has been largely downward since then, with a loss of over a million subscribers reported in Q2 2025. Notably, YouTube TV, the largest vMVPD by subscriber count, claimed to have reached 8 million subscribers in February 2024, with estimates suggesting that number has climbed to approximately 9.4 million. The report indicates that YouTube TV added around 750,000 subscribers in Q3 2025, a decline from the million gained in the same period last year. This unexpected growth can be attributed to traditional pay TV providers adapting their offerings by bundling services with popular streaming subscriptions. For instance, Charter Communications has created packages that include nine streaming services, such as Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. This strategy appears to be paying off, as the company saw a net loss of 294,000 customers in Q3 2024, which improved to just 70,000 in Q3 2025. Similarly, Comcast has ventured into the streaming market, launching a bundle that includes Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV in May 2024. For Q3 2025, Comcast reported its best performance in recent years, with a net loss of 257,000 subscribers—an improvement that reflects the shifting dynamics in viewer preferences.