Founded in 1963 with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Comcast offers cable TV, digital telephone, direct-broadcast satellite, and broadband services. Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns NBC sports, The Golf Channel, NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, the Hallmark Channel, E! Entertainment Television, Hallmark Channel, The Esquire Network and several others.
Subscribers: In 2022 Comcast had 16 million subscribers, down from 17.5 million subscribers in 2021. Millions of Americans are replacing cable TV with streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, AppleTV and many others. Comcast still owns about a quarter of the paid-TV market in the U.S. but is successfully adapting with its streaming service, Peacock, that has 20 million subscribers. Comcast is also expanding its wireless business, Xfinity Mobile.
Revenue: In 2022, Comcast generated a revenue of $121.43 billion, up from $116.4 billion in 2021.
Charter Communications markets its telecommunication services under the Spectrum brand. With subscribers in 42 states, it is a major player in the bundling space with packages for internet, TV, and phone services. Charter Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Subscribers: The company had nearly 14.5 million pay TV subscribers in 2022.
Revenue: By the end of 2022, Charter Communications generated a revenue of $54 billion.
Dish Network is a satellite television provider offering premium channels, international programming, and on-demand content. It was founded in 1995 in Colorado and its headquarters and now in Englewood, CO. It also owns Boost Mobile and Sling TV and both are keys to its future.
Subscribers: As of 2022 Dish Network had 7.4 million subscribers but lost more than a half million subscribers in the first half of 2023 following a loss of about a quarter million in Q4 of 2022. The company is focusing on its 5G wireless phone services as consumers migrate away from pay TV.
Revenue: The company's revenue was $4.04 billion in 2022, down from $4.45 billion in 2021.
Verizon offers cable TV under its Fios TV brand with premium channels, on-demand and international programming.
Subscribers: As of the end of 2021, Verizon had 3.64 million TV subscribers. Revenue: Fios earned $12.7 billion in 2021.Founded in 1876, AT&T provides technology, media, and telecommunication services worldwide. Subscribers: In 2020, AT&T had 3.51 million paid-TV subscribers. It has several times that number for its streaming service, DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV). Revenue: The company generated a revenue of $120.7 billion in 2022.
Cox cable serves 19 states and offers bundles with internet, TV, and phone services. The company was founded in 1962 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Subscribers: Cox has approximately 2.9 million cable subscribers. Revenue: Cox Communications had revenues of $20.98 billion in 2022.
Altice USA provides fiber-optic internet connectivity and cable television services. Subscribers: The company had 2.44 million subscribers by the end of 2022. Revenue: Altice's revenue was $9.64 billion in 2022.
MediaCom operates mainly across southern and midwestern states but is headquartered in New York. It was founded in July 1995 and is now in the top 10 cable companies in the U.S. It serves customers in 21 states with internet, phone and TV. Subscribers: By the end of 2022, MediaCom had approximately 510,000 cable TV subscribers. Revenue: MediaCom's revenue was $2.23 billion in 2021.
Cable One now markets TV and broadband internet under the Sparklight brand name. Sparklight TV is Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) meaning that the TV channels are delivered (streamed) via the internet. It has two packages; one with 20 basic cable channels and another with up to 100 channels. Subscribers: As of 2021, the company had 247,000 cable customers. Revenue: Cable One's revenue was $1.7 billion in 2022.
Frontier Communications was formed in 1935 to serve small rural communities. It now also serves cities with fiber optic and DSL internet, voice and TV but it stopped offering its own cable TV service in 2021 and now bundles its internet services with YouTube TV. Frontier also offers Frontier TV Everywhere as a streaming service for live TV and on-demand shows. Subscribers: By the end of the year, Frontier had 485,000 TV subscribers. Revenue: Frontier's revenue was $5.79 billion in 2022.
Despite the rise of streaming services, the cable industry remains a significant contributor to the U.S. economy. The largest cable companies are agile and have diverse offerings and extensive reach. Many providers are pivoting to streaming and other ventures to capitalize on technology-driven changes to the industry.
Cable providers that also offer other services like internet, phone, and mobile cellular, have additional subscribers beyond paid-TV subscriber counts.
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