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Research: Cord-Cutters Mostly Satisfied Without Pay-TV Service
New research from nScreenMedia (my weekly podcast partner Colin Dixon's firm), has found that among pay-TV cord-cutters, 37% said they were "extremely happy and will never go back to pay-TV," with another 47% saying they're "pretty happy with the decision." Conversely, 8% said they were "pretty unhappy with the decision" and 9% "hate it and wish they had the service again."
The overwhelming lack of remorse suggests cord-cutters have been able to cobble together mostly adequate OTT substitutes to pay-TV.
The survey revealed that 74% of broadband homes still subscribe to pay-TV, with 10% saying they have never subscribed to pay-TV ("cord-nevers"), and 17% having cancelled their service (8% more than 2 years ago, 4% in past 1-2 years, and 5% in the past year).
31% of cord-cutters said they missed most the TV shows that can't be found elsewhere, followed by 12% who said watching first-run TV episodes. Just 9% said they missed sports channels and 29% said they missed absolutely nothing. The low number missing sports suggests that most cord-cutters are not sports fans.
No surprise, millennials' pay-TV subscription rate, at 63%, was the lowest among all age groups, with 19% of the group reported as cord-nevers. Versus other age groups, millennials also watched 24% more subscription OTT video, 20% more free online video and 14% more digital movies and TV shows. Their favorite device was the smartphone, used 15% more than the average of all age groups.
Among online video sources, YouTube was by far the most used, cited by 92% of respondents, followed by Netflix (52%), Hulu/Hulu Plus (35%) and Amazon (26%). For time spent viewing, YouTube led again, with a 48% share of online video viewing, followed by Netflix (22%), Hulu/Hulu Plus (8%) and Amazon (6%).
While the report sheds new light on cord-cutters, the overall size of the group remains relatively small, and the pay-TV industry is working hard to keep it this way, with a range of initiatives like TV Everywhere, enhanced VOD, improved search/discovery, lower-priced bundles, etc. meant to add more value. The fact that the industry lost just about 105K subscribers in 2013 (on a base of nearly 95 million subscribers) suggests that cord-cutting has not taken off in a big way, at least yet.
The research is based on a survey of 1,000 broadband users, weighted to reflect gender and age in the U.S. population of consumers with broadband at home, and was conducted by Troubador Research & Consulting.
The report is available as a complimentary download.Categories: Cable TV Operators, Satellite, Telcos
Companies: nScreenMedia
Video Research Around the Web
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- You'd happily share passwords for Netflix, HBO and more, despite risk CNET
- Netflix usage surpassed cable and satellite TV for the first time in 2018 BGR
- Ratings bombshell: In two years, network TV demos plummeted 27 percent AdAge
- Nielsen: 16M U.S. homes now get TV over-the-air, a 48% increase over past 8 years TechCrunch
- Roku Soars After Reporting 68% Jump in Streaming Hours The Street
- Almost 500 Scripted Shows Aired in 2018, But We Still Haven’t Hit Peak TV Vulture
- Apple TV grows in popularity and passes more affordable Google & Roku options, data shows 9to5 Mac