Google Fiber Growth down sharply in 2016!
Google Fiber’s video growth dropped to 57.8% in 2016 from 78.8% the previous year, as per a Moffett-Nathanson analysis based on fresh data from the U.S. Copyright Office. Google Fiber ended 2016 with 84,232 pay TV subs, marking a sharp decline in the rate of growth, Moffett-Nathanson found in an analysis
Across all Google Fiber U.S. markets, year-on-year growth declined to 57.8%, from 78.8% a year ago, the market research firm found. But Google Fiber’s video business is still growing amid a rising cord-cutting trend that is affecting most major U.S. pay TV providers.
Update: Google Fiber hasn’t released sub numbers, but a person familiar with its business noted that the unit did double its Internet subs in 2016 compared to all previous years combined that Google Fiber has been in business, and that Google Fiber has generally been seeing strong growth for Internet-only subs, including those that are coming way of Webpass, which is being offered in markets such as San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Miami and Boston. Webpass does not provide video service alongside its baseline high-speed Internet offering.
Even without any specific broadband subscriber results provided by either the U.S. Copyright Office or Google parent Alphabet, Moffett said Google Fiber’s video numbers speak volumes about its efforts to make a mark in the broader pay TV industry. It’s not succeeding.
“Seven years after breaking ground in their first broadband market, Google Fiber still accounts for only 0.1% of the U.S. Pay TV industry,” Moffett explained.
Among Google Fiber’s largest individual markets, MoffettNathanson found that the company ended 2016 with 45,096 video subs in its largest market, Kansas City, MO, compared to 28,941 in Kansas City, KS; 5,889 in Austin, Texas; and 2,914 in Provo, Utah.
References:
http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/google-fiber-ended-2016-84232-pay-tv-subs-study/411758
Google Fiber Proposed for Santa Clara; AT&T bids to build CityLinkLA
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Construction-on-backbone-of-Google-Fiber-10851778.php