Back in the 1990s and 2000s, it seemed as if nearly every American had cable. That wasn't true. The cable television market peaked at just under 100 million homes in the late 2010s, while the U.S. Census showed roughly 129 million total households. Still, for most Americans, for many years, a cable television subscription was table stakes. That was very good for a business where most channels got a few cents, sometimes more, from every subscriber. That created a system where niche channels survived bec ...

E-commerce Impact on Retail - E-commerce sales increased by 5.1% in Q3 2025 compared to Q3 2024, while total retail sales rose by 4.1% in the same period, with e-commerce accounting for 16.4% of total sales [1] Home Shopping Networks Struggles - HSN and QVC, the two largest home-shopping networks, have faced significant challenges due to the rise of the internet and changing consumer behavior [2][3] - HSN relocated its headquarters to QVC's campus in Philadelphia in 2025 to reduce costs [2] - Primetime Shopping Network declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operations, highlighting the difficulties smaller players face in the market [2][6] Shift in Consumer Behavior - Younger consumers are increasingly spending time on social media, leading QVC to shift its focus from traditional TV to social and streaming platforms [4] - The decline in traditional TV viewership is evident, with QVC's main channel reaching 44% fewer homes and HSN 47% fewer homes in 2024 compared to 2018 [7] - TV viewing minutes for QVC and HSN dropped by 4%, while news and information programming gained viewership, indicating a shift in consumer attention away from shopping channels [7]