Cuts to the bone

Some 475K slash cord on pay TV

Almost half a million subscribers stopped paying for cable TV in the first quarter — a stunning acceleration of a frightening trend for the industry.

Charter Communications, which is integrating Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, said Tuesday it lost 100,000 TV subscribers in the first quarter, on top of 105,000 in the prior quarter. Analysts had penciled in pay-TV losses of 25,000.

Charter, backed by John Malone’s Liberty Broadband, has said new pricing has led to customer departures, though it added 428,000 broadband subscribers.

“Charter’s results highlight a larger problem for the industry. It is clear the rate of cord-cutting has significantly accelerated,” said Craig Moffett, co-founder of independent research firm MoffettNathanson.

The picture at Charlie Ergen’s satellite service Dish is even bleaker. The satellite provider lost 143,000 TV subscribers versus Street estimates for a loss of 72,000. Moffett described the losses as “alarming.”

Only Comcast managed to eke out subscriber growth, adding 32,000 TV accounts.

The dismal numbers — a net loss totaling 475,000 subscribers — are coming from distributors despite the fact that the first quarter is typically a strong one for TV additions.

Meanwhile, during the same period, Netflix added 1.4 million customers, BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield noted.

“It’s a watershed moment. ... The bundle is too expensive, the price value is broken,” Greenfield said, as cord cutters stream Netflix shows like “Making of a Murderer,” “13 Reasons Why” and “Stranger Things.”

AT&T, which operates DirecTV and U-Verse, said its satellite TV service DirecTV was flat, while its UVerse service lost 233,000.

At Verizon, FIOS lost 13,000 TV customers citing heavy competition in the New York market. Frontier, which reported earnings after the bell Tuesday, said it lost 18,000 TV subscribers.