Charter, the second-largest U.S. cable TV provider, is suffering subscriber losses following its September 2023 carriage fee dispute with Disney. The company experienced its worst quarterly pay-TV subscriber losses on record during the blackout. The 10-day blackout of ABC and ESPN likely had a negative impact on subscriber retention. Pay-TV blackouts are not uncommon in the United States. In 2022, cable TV providers cut off certain channels for over 200 days. Historically, however, the correlation between blackouts and subscriber churn has been low.


However, the prevalence of cord-cutting - the practice of cutting the cord and moving to streaming - and the availability of streaming sports and news at the end of the day has made cable loyalty very difficult for subscribers. Less than 40% of all U.S. households now have a cable TV subscription. With cable TV's competitiveness weakened, another blackout could jeopardize its fundamental position as the number one pay-TV service.


Cable TV is facing the same crisis in South Korea. However, the South Korean government strictly ban pay-TV providers from blacking out due to disputes over carriage fees. However, without government intervention, the loss of subscribers due to blackouts in South Korea could be devastating. Of course, South Korea still has a high share of pay-TV, but this is an optical illusion due to low prices. The cost of a monthly cable TV subscription in South Korea is comparable to the cost of a monthly Netflix subscription when bundled with internet.

지난 2023년 9월 디즈니와 송출 분쟁을 겪은 미국 2위 케이블TV방송사업자 차터(Charter)가 가입자 감소에 허덕이고 있다. 블랙아웃이 관통한 3분기 역대 최악의 유료 방송 가입자 감소를 경험했다.