The decline in cable television subscriptions came to a halt in the third quarter of 2025. The question remains: will cable subscribers start to increase after an eight-year decline?

According to a report from MoffettNathanson’s Cord Cutting Monitor, the third quarter of 2025 showed an increase of over 300,000 pay TV subscriptions to traditional linear TV packages. The analysts suggested that the increase was likely seasonal. However, one might question this reasoning given the eight consecutive years of declines, which included the fall season. Why is there an increase now?

The ever-growing number of SVOD platforms pioneered by Netflix may in fact be wearing on consumers as well as their wallets. Many apps and multiple credit card charges have been reported by previous studies as becoming increasingly tiresome for consumers. The industry has not adapted to consumer demands for a truly aggregated streaming app platform that also consolidates billing. This lack of adaptation may contribute to more consumers returning to cable in order to have all their channels on one bill. Although this is speculation, cable television subscriptions increased this fall, and it will be interesting to see what happens with the next quarterly report.