66% of US TV Homes Have Pay TV, Down From 79% 5 Years Ago: LRG

About 66% of U.S. TV households have some form of live pay-TV service, with the percentage of TV households with cable, satellite, telco or virtual MVPD service down from 79% in 2017, said a Friday Leichtman Research Group report. Some 73% of adults 45 and older have a pay-TV service vs. 57% of ages 18-44, said LRG, and 46% of households that moved in the past year don’t currently have one. “The decline in pay-TV subscribers is not solely a function of those disconnecting services, but is also related to a slowdown in those entering or reentering the category,” said LRG President Bruce Leichtman. “Overall, about 10.5% of TV households last subscribed to a pay-TV service in the past three years, 12% last subscribed over three years ago, and 11.5% never subscribed,” he said. Households with more TVs have more pay-TV services: 73% with three or more TVs have pay TV vs. 65% with two TVs and 52% with one, said the report.