How big a deal is this cord-cutting thing for TV? It may depend on who you ask. The number of people cutting out cable has slowed, but it’s still a growing number. But when you slice and dice those dropping (cord-cutters) or never subscribing (cord-nevers), this new report shows one demographic that’s cutting at a significant rate.
Millennial men are not subscribing to cable, according to a new study from Videology, and reported in Medialife. Other studies have shown cord cutters turning to other pay video services, such as Netflix or Hulu. In this study – with Millennial men – that’s not happening.
“They’ve simply quit watching TV all together.” – Medialife
The study reports that two-thirds of Millennial men don’t expect to pay for cable in the next year. Roughly 50% have already cut the cord.
Videology also asked where they watch TV shows. In the chart below, you’ll notice the numbers add up to more than 100% since people watch in various ways. The big number to note though is that 21% don’t watch any TV on any device. That’s a scary number for TV industry folks.
Overall, Cord Cutting is slowing
Nielsen’s latest report shows homes that subscribe to pay-TV (cable or satellite) is down 1.7% from last January. At the same time, the number of TV households actually grew by 1.7%.
Yes, overall TV viewing is increasing.
2016 was supposed to be the year when people cut cable en masse. All sorts of companies launched apps and so-called “skinny bundles” to attract people trying to trim their cable bill. So what happened? The skinny bundles weren’t all-inclusive and they weren’t all that skinny price-wise.
RELATED: Cord Cutting and Skinny Bundles: More hype than hope?
In 2013, just 9% of US residents did not subscribe to pay-TV (cable or satellite) to get television. By the third quarter of 2016, that number had risen to 15%.
That equates to 17 million broadband-only homes, according to TDG (The Diffusion Group) as reported in MediaPost. Park Associates shows the trending: last year, 12% of subscribers downgraded their pay-TV service vs. 6% that upgraded it.
Still, 81% of broadband homes still have some form of pay-TV service.