A glance at the top pay TV providers

The Associated Press

Comcast Corp. announced Thursday that it is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $45.2 billion in stock. The deal combines two of the nation's top pay TV and Internet service companies and makes Comcast, which also owns NBCUniversal, a dominant force in both creating and delivering entertainment to U.S. homes.

Here's a ranking of the top providers of pay TV by number of U.S. subscribers:

1. COMCAST:

Video customers: 21.69 million

(Internet customers: 20.66 million)

1. DIRECTV:

Video customers: 20.16 million

(Internet customers: None)

1. DISH NETWORK:

Video customers: 14.05 million

(Internet customers: 385,000)

1. TIME WARNER CABLE:

Video customers: 11.39 million

(Internet customers: 11.61 million)

1. AT&T:

Video customers: 5.46 million

(Internet customers: 16.43 million)

1. VERIZON:

Video customers: 5.26 million

(Internet customers: 6.07 million)

1. COX:

Video customers: Estimated 4.5 million

(Internet customers: Estimated 4.5 million)

1. CHARTER:

Video customers: 4.18 million

(Internet customers: 4.29 million)

1. CABLEVISION:

Video customers: 2.83 million

(Internet customers: 2.77 million)

Sources: Company quarterly earnings reports, Leichtman Research Group estimates.