Google Fiber's Pay TV Service Struggling to Grow

Google Fiber has had a lot of attention in the past few years. With everyone doing more and more on the internet, we are all wanting faster speeds at lower prices. Something that Google Fiber is spear heading. Right now Google Fiber is available in a small number of markets in the country, although it is coming to more in the near future. While Google Fiber’s headlining feature is gigabit internet, they also offer Pay TV. Which appears to be struggling quite a bit. According to MoffettNathanson, Google Fiber had 53,390 Pay TV customers at the end of 2015. However that’s not the entire story. After 2014, they had around 30,000 Pay TV subscribers, showing that they are growing pretty slowly. In Provo, Utah, Fiber added 65 Pay TV subscribers in total. A pretty small amount seeing as Google bought the municipal network there nearly three years ago.

This isn’t necessarily a scary thing for Google Fiber. Considering Pay TV is seeing a decrease across the board right now. With more people opting to cut the cord and use services like HBO Now, Netflix, Hulu and others. This also shows that the video business, at least for Google, is simply an added feature to Fiber. Which is what many users are wanting right now. It’s important to note here that these figures do not include their broadband customers. Google Fiber does not have to report their number of subscribers to the government, and don’t share them at all. More than likely broadband growth is much higher than their Pay TV business. However we are unsure of how much better it is.

Currently, Google Fiber’s Pay TV business is about a seventh of the size of the smallest cable provider in the United States. Making them a pretty small competitor. Although on the broadband side of things, competitors are feeling the competition from Google. As Comcast and AT&T have been attempting to keep Google out of Atlanta and Louisville, respectively. This competition is good for consumers, as it means we’ll be seeing faster speeds and hopefully lower prices. Which we’ve already seen with Comcast and AT&T offering gigabit internet as well.