FOX’s main sports channels, FS1 and FS2, are losing subscribers at an alarming rate. According to SportsPro Media, FS1 has been dropped by 668,000 households in the United States since December. This is a 0.9% decrease in their overall reach.
Along with a significant decline of their main sports channel, FS2 is also experienced similar erosion as well. FS2 has seen a drop of 423,000 subscribers during the same timeframe. Combined, FOX has lost over 1 million subscribers of their two sports networks in just a few months.
Ratings on FS1 were reportedly dropping significantly even before the latest numbers were released. In fact, Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe saw a 28% decline in viewership during the third quarter of 2022. This is arguably the network’s flagship program. Other sports talk programs on the networks also had declining numbers.
Traditional TV channels are all seeing decline in viewership
However, FS1 and FS2 are not the only television channels to experience a decrease in viewership. Most traditional networks are also seeing similar trends. The aforementioned report also claimed that ESPN and ESPN2 lost 926,000 combined subscriptions since December. This was a 1.2% overall loss in viewership. The Tennis Channel and MLB Network experienced comparable losses as well.
Spanish-language channel TUDN, however, lost the most amount of subscribers during this timeframe. The Univision-owned sports network saw a decrease of an astounding 8.93 million subscribers. This was more than a quarter of their entire US household reach.
Cord-cutting sapping subscribers from FS1 and FS2
A report released in February claimed that more than half of all U.S. households now do not have cable or satellite subscriptions. This would certainly help explain the trend of traditional networks going south. Cord-cutting is becoming more and more popular here Stateside. Many households now only have select streaming services rather than a traditional cable or satellite setup.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire
