Credit Suisse Anticipates Pay TV Decline, Rise of Streaming Services

Credit Suisse has downgraded a number of media company stocks, including those from Disney, Time Warner, Viacom, and News Corp. over concerns that cable and satellite–”pay TV”–subscriber numbers will drop as we see a rise in more affordable streaming services from Apple, Google, and Netflix. According to the investment house, as more users ditch their pay TV subscriptions in favor of Web-based offerings, subscription fees to cable and satellite companies will be slashed, prompting those companies to reduce their fees to networks and Hollywood studios.

Credit Suisse is also upgrading its estimates for Netflix’s stock price. According to CNET, Credit Suisse finds that nearly 30 percent of Netflix subscribers between the ages of 25 and 34 are watching Netflix exclusively over pay TV and that 17 percent of overall Netflix users have dropped pay TV all together.

Subscriptions from Netflix and a la carte offerings from Apple TV are becoming more affordable in a down economy. Additionally, the influx of mobile rentals on smartphones, such as those on Samsung Media Hub on Android, are providing entertainment on the go that can be viewable on multiple screens–mobile, a connected TV, or computer.