2010-04-15 07:34:13
Tue Apr 13, 6:07 pm ET
Make no mistake: The big cable, satellite, and telco carriers are still sitting
pretty with more than 100 million TV subscribers. Nevertheless, a new report
claims that more and more viewers are "cutting the cord" in favor of watching
their favorite shows via over-the-air antennas (remember those?), Netflix, or
the Web.
TechCrunch has the scoop on a new report from the Toronto-based Convergence
Consulting Group, and though the figures may not be a "serious threat" to the
big cable and satellite carriers yet, the trend might eventually spell trouble
for the like of Cablevision, Comcast, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable.
To wit: Nearly 800,000 households in the U.S. have "cut the cord," dumping
their cable, satellite, or telco TV providers (such as AT&T U-verse or Verizon
FiOS) and turning instead to Web-based videos (like Hulu), downloadable shows
(iTunes), by-mail subscription services (Netflix), or even good ol'
over-the-air antennas for their favorite shows, according to the report.
Now, as TechCrunch points out, the estimated 800,000 cord cutters represent
less than 1 percent of the 100 million U.S. households (give or take) currently
subscribing to a cable/satellite/telco TV carrier, so it's not like we're
talking a mass exodus here. But by the end of 2011, the report guesstimates,
the number of cord-cutting households in the U.S. will double to about 1.6
million, and if the trend continues, well...
Even more trouble for the big carriers is the report's assertion that U.S. TV
watchers are getting a taste for online video, with an estimated 17 percent of
the U.S. TV audience watching at least one or two shows online in a given week
last year, up from just 12 percent in 2008, and set to rise to 21 percent this
year.
Personally, I find the temptation to cut the cord pretty enticing, especially
whenever I get a load of my monthly $130 cable bill (which includes unlimited
broadband and HD but no premium channels). Why am I paying so much for all the
hundreds of channels that I rarely ever watch, anyway? Wouldn't it be easier
not to mention a lot cheaper just to ditch my DVR and watch my favorite shows
on iTunes and Hulu, catch up on the news via CNN.com, and be done with it?
There's one important factor that's keeping me from pulling my scissors out:
live sports, and particularly ESPN, my 24-hour sports companion. Sure, as a
football fan, I could keep up with the Jets and the Giants via over-the-air TV
(although I'm not sure my landlord would be all that ecstatic about my
installing a TV antenna on the roof of our Brooklyn brownstone), but without
cable, I'd be left high and dry when it comes to Monday Night Football.
What about you? Anyone out there count themselves as one of the 800,000-plus
cord-cutting households in the U.S.? If not, would you ever consider it, or are
you too attached to basic cable?
Correction: This post originally said that 800,000 U.S. TV households "cut the
cord" in 2009. They didn't all cut the cord in 2009; the number reflects how
many had cut the cord by the end of 2009 a somewhat important distinction.
Apologies for the goof.
TechCrunch: Estimate: 800,000 U.S. Households Abandoned Their TVs For The Web
Convergence Consulting Group: Preview PDFs of "The Battle for the American
Couch Potato" reports
Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.