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.

Filed Chapter 11 with a pre-arranged plan to cut debt from $6.6B to $1.3B, keeping international units running and paying unsecured creditors in full.

QVC built a $6.6 billion debt structure on linear TV cash flows that cord-cutting was steadily eliminating.

The company's pivot to streaming and social commerce started too late to offset the decline in broadcast viewership revenue.

With 90% of sales from repeat customers, QVC had an engaged base but could not grow it fast enough through digital channels to service its debt.

A business model that depends on a shrinking distribution channel will eventually hit a wall — pivoting before the debt structure is built matters more than pivoting after.