A disappointing earnings report from media giant Time Warner has sent its stock tumbling. In response to this news on Wednesday, many other major media companies also saw falling stock prices. Time Warner currently owns such properties as Warner Bothers Pictures, and cable networks HBO, TNT, and TBS.

Time Warner announced that its projected adjusted earnings for the coming year to come in at $5.25 per share. Analysts had expected Time Warner earnings to come in at the $5.60 mark or better for next year. the news of Time Warner’s projected earnings started a massive sell off of media stocks. Time Warner stocks took an almost immediate 9 percent drop, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile other media giants such as Viacom saw its stock plummet 7.3 percent. Disney stock went down 3.4 percent and 21st Century Fox saw its stock tumble 7.6 percent. Time Warner explained the reason for their poor earnings forecast was large decline in ratings at its television networks which in turn drives down advertising revenue. The company also mentioned a serious drop in subscriptions.

This has been the trouble spot for most media companies of late. More and more Americans have left pay television for other outlets such as online entertainment giants Netflix and Hulu. For many years, cable and satellite television has relied on a steady increase in subscriptions in order to drive revenue every year. This abandonment to online venues is making a serious dent in their earnings and their profits.

Time Warner continued to say that earnings have suffered as they have been throwing more financial resources at original programing especially at its HBO channel. Time Warner, and others, are also considering extending the time that they sell original programming to the likes of Netflix or Hulu. The thinking is to extend it out for a few years longer than it currently is.