NEW YORK (AP) -- The weak economy is hitting Americans where they spend a lot of their free time: at the TV set. They're cancelling cable and satellite TV subscriptions in record numbers.

In a tally by The Associated Press, eight of the nine largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., which serve about 70 percent of households, lost 195,700 subscribers in the April-to-June quarter. That's the first quarterly loss for the group.

Wider industry measures showed a loss of subscribers for the first time in last year's second quarter. This year, they're leaving faster.

The chief cause appears to be persistently high unemployment and a housing market that has many people living with their parents. But there are hints that some people are cancelling cable in favor of cheap Internet video.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)