Just as call centres and postal services were once essential parts of daily life before technology made them almost obsolete, pay TV now appears to be heading down a similar path as streaming platforms capture audiences, advertising revenue, and the sports rights that once anchored traditional broadcasting.
Traditional pay TV subscriptions in the United States dropped by 1.3 million in the first quarter of 2025, with only 49.6 million subscriptions remaining compared to 101 million eleven years ago, representing just 35 percent of households versus 85 percent in 2015. The era of satellite dishes, decoder renewals, and fixed schedules is fading fast as audiences choose flexibility, affordability, and on demand entertainment over fixed subscriptions.
From World Cup matches to blockbuster movies and binge worthy reality shows, viewers are voting with their wallets and their remote controls. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup around the corner, the shift has become even more evident. FOX Sports holds the English language rights while Telemundo covers Spanish language broadcasts through 2026, but streaming services like Fubo are increasingly securing sublicense agreements to offer matches digitally, signalling where the industry is headed.
What began as an alternative viewing option has evolved into the new mainstream, shaking up the global media landscape. And it’s not just about sports. Streaming platforms are home to nearly every kind of content audiences crave, from international films and series to African dramas and global reality sensations like Love Is Blind and Big Brother. Viewers can now watch what they want, when they want, and on any device, whether at home, at work, or on the go.
According to PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, live sports alone generate over US$60 billion annually, and an increasing share of that value is flowing to digital platforms. With more people switching to on demand services, traditional pay TV operators are under pressure to adapt or risk extinction. Subscription growth is flattening while advertising and subscription revenues in traditional TV are in decline, and the very model that sustained pay TV for decades, exclusive broadcasting, is losing relevance.
Broadcasters like MultiChoice’s DStv and StarTimes, once untouchable leaders in the African market, are already feeling the impact. Both have started experimenting with hybrid models that combine streaming and traditional services, including Showmax, in an effort to keep pace with rapidly changing consumer habits. But here’s the challenge: hybrid models only work if they can compete on price, convenience, and content library with pure play streaming services that have years of head start and massive content investments.
Streaming platforms, meanwhile, are innovating at lightning speed, offering multi angle viewing, real time statistics, and personalised recommendations powered by artificial intelligence. Their user friendly experience and global accessibility have not only changed how people watch but also how advertisers spend. Connected TV ad spending may exceed 15.8 percent year over year growth in 2025, while traditional TV advertising continues its steady decline.
Brands now prefer digital platforms that offer measurable engagement and global reach, eroding pay TV’s traditional revenue streams. When you can see exactly which demographics watched your advertisement, how long they engaged, and whether they took action afterward, the old model of buying time slots based on estimated viewership starts to look quaint by comparison.
Challenges remain, particularly in regions with limited internet infrastructure or high data costs. Ghana and other African markets face bandwidth constraints that make streaming less reliable than satellite broadcasts, which partly explains why pay TV hasn’t collapsed as quickly here as in more developed markets. Yet the shift seems irreversible. Consumers are prioritising convenience and control, and technology continues to blur the lines between television, mobile, and social media.
Total traditional U.S. multichannel households are projected to decline by 9.3 percent in 2025 as more consumers cut the cord in favour of digital video and streaming alternatives. That’s not a gradual shift; it’s an acceleration of a trend that shows no signs of slowing. Carriage disputes between pay TV operators and content providers have become more frequent and bitter, with each side recognising that their negotiating leverage is fundamentally changing.
What makes this transformation particularly striking is how quickly it’s happened. A decade ago, pay TV operators seemed invincible, controlling access to premium content through exclusive deals and infrastructure investments that created high barriers to entry. Streaming services were seen as supplements to traditional TV, not replacements. Netflix was primarily known for mailing DVDs and offering old TV shows online.
But technology advanced faster than traditional broadcasters adapted. Internet speeds increased, mobile data became more affordable in many markets, and streaming platforms invested billions in original content that viewers couldn’t get anywhere else. When Netflix started producing shows like House of Cards and Stranger Things, it signalled that streaming services weren’t just distributors of other people’s content; they were becoming content creators with budgets rivalling major studios.
The sports rights landscape tells the transformation story clearly. For decades, sports were pay TV’s ace card, the one category of content that kept subscribers locked in because they couldn’t watch their favourite teams anywhere else. But streaming services have systematically chipped away at that advantage. Amazon Prime Video now broadcasts NFL games. Apple TV+ has Major League Soccer. DAZN has boxing and various football leagues. The exclusive sports fortress that protected pay TV is crumbling wall by wall.
As the 2026 World Cup approaches, one thing seems clear: just as technology transformed how people communicate, shop, and work, it’s now transforming how they watch. The United States pay TV market is expected to decline from US$67.9 billion in 2025 to US$57.8 billion by 2033, reflecting an industry in structural decline rather than temporary disruption.
Pay TV may soon join the list of once necessary services, like call centres and postal mail, that technology has quietly but decisively left behind. The question isn’t whether this transition will happen, but how quickly, and whether traditional broadcasters can successfully pivot to hybrid models before their subscriber bases shrink past the point of viability.
For African markets like Ghana, the transition may take longer due to infrastructure constraints, but the direction is clear. As internet penetration increases and data costs decline, the same forces reshaping media consumption in developed markets will eventually reshape African viewing habits. Pay TV operators who recognise this reality and adapt accordingly may survive. Those who don’t will become case studies in how dominant market positions can evaporate when underlying technologies shift.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
