Survey: Six In 10 Cable TV Subscribers Cut Cord; More Likely To Unsubscribe

[comfortably_numb]

https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/s...bscribers-cut-cord-more-likely-to-unsubscribe

“I think it is pretty obvious that cable TV is going to go away, at least in the form that we’ve known it,” says Andy Kerns, creative director of Digital Third Coast and primary researcher on Waterstone’s cord-cutting survey. ”I think the story right now is about how quickly it is happening.”

 

[Zookster]

These stats don't take into account the cord-never people, mainly the younger demographic, which further signal the imminent doom for traditional cable TV.

 

[harshness]

I'd be willing to wager that someone has messed up reporting the results or detailing some important qualifier (like the survey was only of subscribers who were considering jumping ship in an earlier survey).

If the results were representative, more than a few cable companies (especially those without an Internet or Phone offering) would have filed for bankruptcy yet there appear to be no big stock value moves in the marketplace. You can't just slash your ARPU by 2/3 or more and not make a very public statement.

 

[NYDutch]

They don't say over what period of time the cord cutters dropped service. At least some percentage of them would be offset by new subscribers.

 

[Zookster]

If this takes into account anyone who had cable TV ever and now no longer have it, the stats don't seem all that surprising. A $100+/mo. cable TV package is a luxury for anyone struggling to pay health care, college tuition, child care, housing, hit hard by the 2008 Recession, etc., working jobs that haven't kept up with the rate of inflation.

Here's the survey source, though it's also thin on details of what exactly was asked, though it appears to be a random sampling and not people who had previously indicated an interest in cutting the cord.

 

[camo]

I remember when this started lots of naysayers were saying it would never catch on. Think its bad now, it will be non-existent in 10 years or so.
I use to think satellite TV would never fail because of a lack of broadband into rural America but that's also changing. Fiber is going in everywhere across Nebraska and other places are getting broadband over wireless systems.
I was looking at a house for sale in a little town middle of nowhere literally, Springview Ne. pop. 780. My concern was the internet. Well, after researching I found they have fiber throughout the town.

 

[NYDutch]

My take is that the surveyor makes no allowances for "churn" in determining that cable TV is in a rapid decline. A decline, yes, as are the sat services, but with no idea of the actual survey parameters and questions, I can't give it a lot of validity. Am I considered a "cable cutter" under their parameters because I dropped cable and switched to satellite 10 years ago?

 

[ncted]

I wonder how this accounts for people who just have cable because it is cheaper to have a basic package with Internet than it is to just have Internet? Do those people even watch those channels they are paying for?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

From my viewpoint cord cutting is still not reliable nor does it offer the quality you get from traditional delivery methods.

It’s getting better but not where it should be yet.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[ncted]

From my viewpoint cord cutting is still not reliable nor does it offer the quality you get from traditional delivery methods.

It’s getting better but not where it should be yet.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

Yeah, when my internet service went out for a few days in 2018 after an ice storm, it was very nice to have Dish service to keep us entertained. This is one of the reasons I am resisting going with something like YTTV/Philo. If I switched away from Dish, I would have to go OTA for locals, which is a real challenge where I live.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Yeah, when my internet service went out for a few days in 2018 after an ice storm, it was very nice to have Dish service to keep us entertained. This is one of the reasons I am resisting going with something like YTTV/Philo. If I switched away from Dish, I would have to go OTA for locals, which is a real challenge where I live.

Same. I keep the bare minimum package with Dish as a fallback, and because we have so many recordings on the DVR.

 

[harshness]

Here's the survey source, though it's also thin on details of what exactly was asked, though it appears to be a random sampling and not people who had previously indicated an interest in cutting the cord.

While teens are a key demographic, I question how many teens have any control over what their household subscribes to.

"Thin" doesn't begin to describe the methodology. The article doesn't hint at who commissioned the survey (survey companies don't do anything for free) and who commissioned the survey often tells a lot about what results they were after. I'm also dubious about the states that were skipped as statistically insignificant; ostensibly where entertainment options may not be as varied or plentiful as they are in other states.

Why draw the line at 69 and not some other age?

 

[ncted]

While teens are a key demographic, I question how many teens have any control over what their household subscribes to.

"Thin" doesn't begin to describe the methodology. The article doesn't hint at who commissioned the survey (survey companies don't do anything for free) and who commissioned the survey often tells a lot about what results they were after. I'm also dubious about the states that were skipped as statistically insignificant; ostensibly where entertainment options may not be as varied or plentiful as they are in other states.

Why draw the line at 69 and not some other age?

While I don't disagree with your assessment of the methods, I suspect the 69 year old cut off is because marketers have some odd ideas about older people and how much they buy (or don't). Advertisers just don't care about people past a certain age (aside from healthcare related products anyway).

 

[harshness]

Advertisers just don't care about people past a certain age (aside from healthcare related products anyway).

Is the survey about what service can't be depended on to deliver their marketing message or who's dropping conventional cable?

I noticed in another thread that DIRECTV Now lost over a quarter of a million subscribers so maybe cable isn't alone in their tribulations. The OP in that thread also made light of the fact DIRECTV is now combining their satellite and DTVN subscriber numbers together just as DISH does with their SlingTV subscribers.