At the point the world economy took a downturn, people the world over adopted austerity measures that would help them save much needed funds for other basic requirements. Americans citizens were also not left out and many decided to forgo luxuries for necessities. According to data from Telecom companies, there was a sharp drop in the number of making use of home phone services and more Americans decided to make do with just mobile phones alone. A similar trend has also played out in the cable services industry, as cable providers say more people are now opting out of using Cable TV.
The reason for this may not be so farfetched, as it is a common practice for Cable companies to increase their subscription charges with each year that passes without much new added value to the service. This extra cost is one many may have decided to do without. According to reports from Gigaom, an analysis of cable subscribers for four out of the five major cable companies for the third quarter in 2010 shows a loss of customers as many subscribers have stopped using cable services. The report also indicates that the number of those leaving is also increasing consistently.

From the calculations arrived at in the Gigaom report, it is estimated that around 500,000 subscribers to cable services left their individual cable providers in Q3. The calculations were done using the figures given in the earning reports of various cable companies. The report indicates that the highest figure of subscribers lost for Q3 belongs to Comcast with a total number of 275,000 opting out of the network, Time Warner’s figures for lost subscribers was 155,000. Other companies whose figures were computed include Charter Communications and Cablevision both of whom lost 63,800 and 24,500 subscribers respectively.
The figure of lost subscribers may be significantly higher than the 500,000 calculated if lost subscribers from a cable company such as Cox Communications, which ranks as the third biggest cable service provider are added to the figure. Cox Communications is well known for not making reports on the number of subscribers it may have lost during any quarter.

In the past times, subscribers who opted out of using cable usually ended up going for television services from IPTV or satellite TV companies. However, from the Gigaom reports, it appears there is a shift in this trend this time around as more customers seek even more affordable alternatives.