The slow but steady decline of cable companies’ subscriber numbers as a result of cord-cutting is no secret. The United States had approximately 105 million pay-TV households at its peak in 2010. Leichtman Research Group said in March that the largest cable, satellite, and fiber pay-tv firms in the US saw their subscriber counts fall by roughly 5.5 million in 2021, following a loss of 5.78 million in 2020, leaving their numbers at around 68.1 million at the start of 2022.
“At the same time, we’re extremely mindful of our capacity to go more aggressively into the DTC [direct-to-consumer, aka streaming] sector of ESPN, so what we’re doing right now is sort of putting one foot on the dock, if you will.”
