QVC Group filed Chapter 11 after cord-cutting killed its TV shopping model

QVC Group, the parent of home-shopping channels QVC and HSN, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 17, 2026, with a pre-arranged restructuring plan to reduce its debt from $6.6 billion to $1.3 billion. The television shopping pioneer, which had revolutionized retail by bringing live shopping into American living rooms since the 1980s, had been undone by the very shift it once led: cord-cutting had eroded the linear TV audience its business depended on.

In 2025, QVC Group's net revenue fell nearly 8% year over year to $8.3 billion, while its net loss more than doubled to over $2.1 billion. The company had accumulated more than $6.6 billion in debt against a business model that depended on linear TV viewership. In court filings, QVC's CFO acknowledged that cord-cutting and the rise of streaming, social media, and e-commerce had 'eroded the cash flows that historically supported QVC Group's current capital structure.'

The restructuring plan, negotiated over eight months with a majority of lenders, applied only to QVC Group's U.S. operations. Its international businesses in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Italy continued operating normally. No layoffs were planned; the company had over $1 billion in cash at year-end 2025 and would pay all general unsecured creditors in full. QVC had launched its first 24/7 live-stream a year earlier and acquired over 1 million new customers on TikTok in 2025, but these digital pivots came too late to avoid bankruptcy. The company expected to exit Chapter 11 within 90 days.