Copyright MassLive
At the turn of the century, Massachusetts households — like much of the country — welcomed cable TV with open arms. But more than two decades later, the “channel surfing” era is nearly over. State data shows cable subscriptions in Massachusetts have fallen almost 45% from their peak, dropping from 2.19 million in 2013 to fewer than 1.2 million as of December 2024 — far lower than in 2000 when state data begins. In 2000, roughly 1.9 million Bay Staters tuned in to local and national channels through a cable connection. Over the next decade, subscriptions climbed past 2 million and plateaued around 2.1 million before a steep decline began in the late 2010s. Since then, subscriber counts have plunged by hundreds of thousands each year. The trend mirrors what’s happening nationwide — streaming giants like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and YouTube have replaced traditional cable packages, while smartphones and smart TVs have made living room remotes nearly obsolete. “It’s a convergence of multiple trends,” Lee Rainie, founding director of internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center and now director of Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center said. “Cable subscribers used to pay for a bundle of stations — local news, sports — that bundle has been broken apart in modern years,” he continued. Where consumers once bundled dozens of cable channels, many now build their own “à la carte” streaming lineups through apps and subscriptions, using high-speed internet as the foundation. “With the internet you can throw your content online for free, like YouTube, and keep an archive on a free platform — as opposed to cable, where you had to pay for a slot,” Rainie said. “It’s benefitted both consumers and creators.” Comcast’s dominance — and decline No company has felt this shift more than Comcast — Massachusetts’ largest cable provider. Comcast once controlled more than 80% of the state’s cable market, peaking at 1.6 million customers in 2006. But over the next two decades, the company lost nearly 670,000 subscribers across the Bay State, including 171,000 between 2006 and 2012 alone. A Comcast spokesperson told MassLive the company has adapted to the streaming boom by leaning into broadband internet — a service that powers the very streaming platforms replacing cable. “The broadband environment remains intensely competitive, which we do not expect to change anytime soon,” Mike Cavanagh, Comcast Corporation president, said during the company’s October 2025 earnings call. “Strong, consistent WiFi remains the number one factor driving customer choice, and this is where we excel.” Comcast’s business has diversified beyond cable, allowing them to adapt to the challenges cable providers face. The company pointed to its Xfinity Mobile service, theme parks, broadband, and film operations as key drivers of revenue. Its streaming platform Peacock now boasts more than 41 million subscribers, though it reported a $217 million loss in its most recent quarter. Despite dips in pay TV and broadband customers, Comcast’s results beat Wall Street expectations — bringing in $31.2 billion in quarterly revenue compared to analysts’ forecast of $30.7 billion. Small providers struggle to survive While a corporation like Comcast can weather the losses, smaller municipal cable systems have not been as fortunate. In 2021, the town of Russell sold its municipal cable service to Comcast after it could no longer keep up with technological advances and rising content costs. At the time, Comcast had about 1.2 million subscribers statewide and absorbed Russell’s 213 remaining customers. The sale left only three municipal television systems in Norwood, Braintree, and Shrewsbury. But even those numbers are shrinking: Braintree Electric and Light Department (BELD) ended its cable and television operations in 2019, citing similar challenges. What began as a revolution in home entertainment is now history in motion.
