April 13, 2026
T.Schneider/Depositphotos.com
Why Is QVC Being Tuned Out?
QVC, the home shopping king, issued a going concern warning amid a decades-long decline in linear TV viewership and heightened competition in livestream e-commerce.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the parent of QVC and HSN said it could not file its annual report on time in light of ongoing negotiations with lenders. QVC indicated “there remains substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The warning comes as QVC posted a net loss of $2.2 billion in the nine months ended September 30, as sales slumped 7.4% to $5.9 billion.
Last year, both Fitch and Moody’s downgraded their debt ratings on QVC. Moody’s at the time said the downgrade reflected QVC’s “large debt load” and deteriorating operating performance caused by “accelerating cable cord-cutting, falling customer count and lower customer engagement.”
Moody’s further said QVC’s performance would likely remain weak “as the company contends with secular pressures to its core business, an uncertain demand environment for discretionary products and an expectation for elevated costs associated with higher tariffs.”
On its third-quarter investor call, Billy Wafford, CFO, said QVC’s core home category, making up about 40% of sales, was down 7% in the third quarter — and impacted by “reduced demand in culinary and ongoing pressure in our Today’s Special Value events, many of which were impacted by tariffs.”
Charges for management compensation incentives related to its “Win” turnaround program had a “material impact” on earnings.
On the call, CEO David Rawlinson said QVC was making progress in its Win initiative that calls for accelerated investments in social shopping. Revenues from social and streaming platforms grew 30% over last year, with QVC now ranking among the top sellers on U.S. TikTok Shop. Streaming growth is being boosted by additional FAST TV channel launches on Amazon Fire TV and Roku, and the launch of a new live-like channel called the Deals Channel.
Revenue attributed to social and streaming platforms were still in the low-double digits as a percentage of its core QVC and HSN platforms. Rawlinson said, “We are encouraged by the results we’re seeing in our social and streaming platforms against what continues to be a challenging tariff, viewership and macroeconomic backdrop.”
Analysts Believe QVC May Be Too Late to the Game
Writing for The Robin Report, Warren Shoulberg believes QVC was too slow to evolve to e-commerce in the early days — and is now late to social and conversational commerce. He also said the TV-shopping experience is “a tired and irrelevant visual presence that certainly didn’t work for next gen customers.”
For WWD, veteran retail reporter Dave Moin questioned “whether the company innovated fast enough to keep up with competitors such as Amazon and emerging retail formats and attract new generations of shoppers.”
Among suggestions in a Drexel University blog, Lawrence Duke, a marketing professor at Drexel, said QVC could “streamline operations and to emphasize a lean, digital-first live-commerce platform. Another would be to focus more intentionally on the 50+ demographic, positioning QVC as a trusted, community-centered shopping destination for an affluent but often overlooked segment. A third option would be to differentiate through curated expertise, emphasizing host credibility and product storytelling rather than price competition.”
BrainTrust
Jeff Sward
Founding Partner, Merchandising Metrics
Oliver Guy
Global Industry Architect, Microsoft Retail
Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Are the challenges facing QVC in recent years fixable or has televised home shopping become antiquated?
What suggestions would you have for QVC to better position the platform for growth?
Poll
Loading …
Isn’t the problem the (inherently) limited ability of the format to showcase more than a few items at a time? And how would one fix that?
This would seem to be a splendid example of a concept tied to a particular moment in time…impossbile before that era, and unneeded after it.
Next up: the payphone…the next big nostalgia craze?
I did a lot of interviews with QVC executives when I was writing for Forbes. Also spent a lot of time thinking about it,and I’m not gonna lie, I used to watch it in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep in the 90’s.
To me, QVC was the first social media. I would hear these people calling in from small towns all over the country, and they had a voice. They could talk to the amorphous crowd, the host and the guest…..and I think it was great for their self-esteem. But 30 yers have gone by, and there are actual social media networks now. We can debate if they’re good, be or indifferent to society’s mental health, but there’s no doubt, it’s easier to type than it is to call in. Even me…I took exception to the first commandment of Padma Lakshmi’s first commandment on her new show, “America’ Culinary Cup” being the butcher of an entire animal. She took the time nd effort to answer me. Her logic was good, but her kindness in responding and saying it creeped her out too made me feel good (I think she’s a spectacular woman).
this is the long way round saying that QVC was a Pioneer, but it’s day is done
I used to watch it…in the 90s” says it all.
Like Sears, “where America used to shop,” QVC failed to recognize a dynamic shopping environment & changing, dissimilar competitors.
In the case of QVC, it’s not simply that history (Sears, Kodak, Borders, Bed, Bath & Beyond) repeated itself, but the failure to learn from history (similar causes of demise) that has negatively affected QVC. Unfortunately, it may be too late to right the ship.
QVC’s challenges appear structural rather than temporary, as traditional televised home shopping continues to lose relevance in a world dominated by digital and social commerce. The company recently reported a $2.2 billion net loss with sales declining 7.4%, while also warning of “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operating amid debt and declining viewership.
A key driver is the broader shift away from linear television. Cord-cutting and streaming adoption have reduced the audience for traditional TV shopping, while platforms like Amazon, TikTok Shop, and livestream commerce have effectively recreated QVC’s original model in a more modern, interactive format. In fact, QVC leadership has acknowledged declining linear TV viewership and increasing consumer distraction from digital platforms, reinforcing that the issue is not just execution — it’s a fundamental shift in how consumers shop and discover products.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the concept of live selling is antiquated — quite the opposite. Live commerce is growing rapidly on social and digital platforms, where influencer-driven livestreams can generate significant engagement and sales. The challenge is that the traditional TV format is losing relevance, while the core idea behind QVC — storytelling, demonstration, and personality-driven selling — is thriving elsewhere.
To better position itself for growth, QVC may need to evolve beyond television and lean more aggressively into:
- Social and livestream commerce platforms
- Creator and influencer partnerships
- Short-form and on-demand video content
- Exclusive and differentiated product offerings
- Mobile-first and digital shopping experiences
There are signs the company is already attempting this shift, including partnerships with TikTok and efforts to reposition itself as a “live social shopping” platform rather than a traditional TV channel. However, these efforts must accelerate to offset declining TV audiences.
Ultimately, televised home shopping itself is becoming antiquated, but video-driven commerce is not. QVC pioneered the concept decades ago, but consumer behavior has shifted toward online, mobile, and social platforms that deliver the same experience in a more convenient and engaging way.
The opportunity for QVC lies in embracing this transition fully — evolving from a television network into a digital, creator-led, livestream commerce platform. If it can successfully make that shift, the model still has relevance. If not, the continued decline of traditional TV shopping suggests the challenges may become increasingly difficult to overcome.
QVC is fading for the same reason department stores faded. Failure to evolve. Customers have so many more shopping choices than they used to. At this late date, it’s very hard to see QVC bouncing back.
QVC’s $2.2 billion net loss isn’t a TV problem; it’s a strategy problem. Live commerce is thriving on TikTok, YouTube, and Amazon. The format works. QVC just spent a decade trying to preserve a cable TV asset while competitors built the future around the same concept. That’s Porter’s “stuck in the middle” in its purest form: too committed to the old model to lead the new one. Suggesting QVC double down on the 50+ demographic isn’t a turnaround plan; it’s a wind-down plan with better optics. The audience will age out faster than the debt matures.
Live selling has a future. QVC’s claim on it probably doesn’t.
Hi Mohamed! Did Amazon end up doing well with its live shopping? I think it’s more an issue of being forced into a particular time slot than anything. They did very well adapting to the “vanilla” web, and you can actually get good deals on there. But it’s not an accident that Heidi Klum’s show on Amazon didn’t get picked up for new seasons. It just doesn’t lend itself to “anytime” shopping, live, I think.
Hi Paula! Great point on the time-slot friction. Synchronous viewing runs counter to modern “anytime” behavior, and Amazon Live is a good example of that tension. I’d add that platform fit matters as much as the format itself. Amazon Live feels a bit grafted onto a search-and-buy engine, whereas TikTok Shop works because live selling is native to how people already use that platform. The format can thrive; it just needs the right home. Which is exactly what makes QVC’s story so interesting. They owned that fit for decades and didn’t migrate it when they could have.
QVC used to be unique – see something on screen, demonstrated and in use – then make the purchase.
But this uniqueness has been slowly eroded – retailers putting videos of products on their websites was the start but as time has gone on Instagram and TikTok have cornered that market – making their content much more ‘bite sized’, contextual, and blended into other activities.
Just like the demise of MTV, QVC are struggling in the ‘screen-time attention competition’. Options might include inserting content into social media channels with links to longer videos and information.
There is also the angle of devices that people watch content on – Computers, phones, tablets being watched more than televisions. I have also heard anecdotally that YouTube as an example is watched most by older generations and children – suggesting that TV usage is changing dramatically.
Arguably, QVC need a very careful rethink regarding their channel, device, and target audience strategy.
The entire QVC is out of place today. THe best strategy in the world could not have rescued QVC unless it was implemented by Jeff Bezos.
The backdrop to QVC’s struggles is huge debt. This gives them very little room for maneuver and makes every sales decline all the more painful. Ultimately, as poor as the revenue side of the equation is, it is the eye-watering debt that will cause them to fail. As to why QVC is suffering on the sales side, most of it is due to the model. Much of QVC is about linear commerce – TV shows that are broadcast to consumers – and a more traditional, older consumer base. But the growth is among younger consumers and platform like live-streaming; so QVC is not aligned.
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Isn’t the problem the (inherently) limited ability of the format to showcase more than a few items at a time? And how would one fix that?
This would seem to be a splendid example of a concept tied to a particular moment in time…impossbile before that era, and unneeded after it.
Next up: the payphone…the next big nostalgia craze?
I did a lot of interviews with QVC executives when I was writing for Forbes. Also spent a lot of time thinking about it,and I’m not gonna lie, I used to watch it in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep in the 90’s.
To me, QVC was the first social media. I would hear these people calling in from small towns all over the country, and they had a voice. They could talk to the amorphous crowd, the host and the guest…..and I think it was great for their self-esteem. But 30 yers have gone by, and there are actual social media networks now. We can debate if they’re good, be or indifferent to society’s mental health, but there’s no doubt, it’s easier to type than it is to call in. Even me…I took exception to the first commandment of Padma Lakshmi’s first commandment on her new show, “America’ Culinary Cup” being the butcher of an entire animal. She took the time nd effort to answer me. Her logic was good, but her kindness in responding and saying it creeped her out too made me feel good (I think she’s a spectacular woman).
this is the long way round saying that QVC was a Pioneer, but it’s day is done
I used to watch it…in the 90s” says it all.
Like Sears, “where America used to shop,” QVC failed to recognize a dynamic shopping environment & changing, dissimilar competitors.
In the case of QVC, it’s not simply that history (Sears, Kodak, Borders, Bed, Bath & Beyond) repeated itself, but the failure to learn from history (similar causes of demise) that has negatively affected QVC. Unfortunately, it may be too late to right the ship.
QVC’s challenges appear structural rather than temporary, as traditional televised home shopping continues to lose relevance in a world dominated by digital and social commerce. The company recently reported a $2.2 billion net loss with sales declining 7.4%, while also warning of “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operating amid debt and declining viewership.
A key driver is the broader shift away from linear television. Cord-cutting and streaming adoption have reduced the audience for traditional TV shopping, while platforms like Amazon, TikTok Shop, and livestream commerce have effectively recreated QVC’s original model in a more modern, interactive format. In fact, QVC leadership has acknowledged declining linear TV viewership and increasing consumer distraction from digital platforms, reinforcing that the issue is not just execution — it’s a fundamental shift in how consumers shop and discover products.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the concept of live selling is antiquated — quite the opposite. Live commerce is growing rapidly on social and digital platforms, where influencer-driven livestreams can generate significant engagement and sales. The challenge is that the traditional TV format is losing relevance, while the core idea behind QVC — storytelling, demonstration, and personality-driven selling — is thriving elsewhere.
To better position itself for growth, QVC may need to evolve beyond television and lean more aggressively into:
There are signs the company is already attempting this shift, including partnerships with TikTok and efforts to reposition itself as a “live social shopping” platform rather than a traditional TV channel. However, these efforts must accelerate to offset declining TV audiences.
Ultimately, televised home shopping itself is becoming antiquated, but video-driven commerce is not. QVC pioneered the concept decades ago, but consumer behavior has shifted toward online, mobile, and social platforms that deliver the same experience in a more convenient and engaging way.
The opportunity for QVC lies in embracing this transition fully — evolving from a television network into a digital, creator-led, livestream commerce platform. If it can successfully make that shift, the model still has relevance. If not, the continued decline of traditional TV shopping suggests the challenges may become increasingly difficult to overcome.
QVC is fading for the same reason department stores faded. Failure to evolve. Customers have so many more shopping choices than they used to. At this late date, it’s very hard to see QVC bouncing back.
QVC’s $2.2 billion net loss isn’t a TV problem; it’s a strategy problem. Live commerce is thriving on TikTok, YouTube, and Amazon. The format works. QVC just spent a decade trying to preserve a cable TV asset while competitors built the future around the same concept. That’s Porter’s “stuck in the middle” in its purest form: too committed to the old model to lead the new one. Suggesting QVC double down on the 50+ demographic isn’t a turnaround plan; it’s a wind-down plan with better optics. The audience will age out faster than the debt matures.
Live selling has a future. QVC’s claim on it probably doesn’t.
Hi Mohamed! Did Amazon end up doing well with its live shopping? I think it’s more an issue of being forced into a particular time slot than anything. They did very well adapting to the “vanilla” web, and you can actually get good deals on there. But it’s not an accident that Heidi Klum’s show on Amazon didn’t get picked up for new seasons. It just doesn’t lend itself to “anytime” shopping, live, I think.
Hi Paula! Great point on the time-slot friction. Synchronous viewing runs counter to modern “anytime” behavior, and Amazon Live is a good example of that tension. I’d add that platform fit matters as much as the format itself. Amazon Live feels a bit grafted onto a search-and-buy engine, whereas TikTok Shop works because live selling is native to how people already use that platform. The format can thrive; it just needs the right home. Which is exactly what makes QVC’s story so interesting. They owned that fit for decades and didn’t migrate it when they could have.
QVC used to be unique – see something on screen, demonstrated and in use – then make the purchase.
But this uniqueness has been slowly eroded – retailers putting videos of products on their websites was the start but as time has gone on Instagram and TikTok have cornered that market – making their content much more ‘bite sized’, contextual, and blended into other activities.
Just like the demise of MTV, QVC are struggling in the ‘screen-time attention competition’. Options might include inserting content into social media channels with links to longer videos and information.
There is also the angle of devices that people watch content on – Computers, phones, tablets being watched more than televisions. I have also heard anecdotally that YouTube as an example is watched most by older generations and children – suggesting that TV usage is changing dramatically.
Arguably, QVC need a very careful rethink regarding their channel, device, and target audience strategy.
The entire QVC is out of place today. THe best strategy in the world could not have rescued QVC unless it was implemented by Jeff Bezos.
The backdrop to QVC’s struggles is huge debt. This gives them very little room for maneuver and makes every sales decline all the more painful. Ultimately, as poor as the revenue side of the equation is, it is the eye-watering debt that will cause them to fail. As to why QVC is suffering on the sales side, most of it is due to the model. Much of QVC is about linear commerce – TV shows that are broadcast to consumers – and a more traditional, older consumer base. But the growth is among younger consumers and platform like live-streaming; so QVC is not aligned.