Charter Loses 51,000 Pay TV Subscribers in First Quarter

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Cable and broadband giant Charter Communications narrowed its losses of pay TV customers as it reported its first-quarter results Friday.

The company, led by president and CEO Chris Winfrey, shed 51,000 residential video subscribers during the first quarter, compared to a loss of 167,000 residential video customers during the same period last year. Charter had posted a rare gain of 44,000 pay TV subs during the fourth quarter of 2025 amid continued cord-cutting across the industry.

The company earlier added programmers’ streaming applications in Spectrum’s expanded basic packages to lower churn and had a slight bump in signups when Disney channels were unavailable for YouTube TV subscribers during a recent carriage dispute. Charter had 12.5 million pay-TV customers at the end of the first quarter, down 1.3 percent from a year-earlier 12.7 million.

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The company also shed 120,000 internet customers during the latest quarter, compared to a 59,000 customer decline in the first quarter of 2025. That was offset by Charter adding 368,000 total mobile phone lines, against growth of 507,000 Spectrum Mobile lines in the year-ago period.

Net income attributable to Charter shareholders fell 4.4 percent to $1.2 billion, while first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion dropped 1 percent from a year-earlier $13.7 billion.

Overall, Charter had 29.4 million residential customers taking its Internet, mobile phone, video and other products at the end of the first quarter, down 1.5 percent from a year-earlier 29.9 million overall subscribers.

“We remain confident about our ability to win in the marketplace and grow over the longer term. That confidence is founded on our advanced network, our core operating strategy of delivering great products at great prices and our focus on increasing customer satisfaction,” Winfrey said in a statement ahead of a morning analyst call to discuss the first quarter financial results.

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