Thread: Nearly 800,000 U.S. TV households 'cut the cord,'

Nearly 800,000 U.S. TV households 'cut the cord,' report says
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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/2010 ... adg_tc1598

Yeah, I am getting pretty ticked as TW Cable just went up another $5 per month. I don't care about Nickelodeon or Disney channel. I don't care about sports or watching how to shoot animals on OLC. Having basic cable, there are about 20 out of the 100 I am fed which I watch. So why am I paying for the fluff I don't want.
A few years ago, TWC had to come out to install a new cable after a storm. The two guys they sent to dig and bury the cable spoke not one word of English. This was in 2006 or 2007, and though they did a great job, I should have started asking questions of TWC.

I'm one of them! Over half the cable channels are airing stations I would never watch, Another quarter are in spanish or vietnamese, or some other foreign language which I do not care to learn at the moment. I watch public tv ( admittedly, difficult to stomach sometimes ) PBS, Frontline, Nature, McLaughlin Group, BBC, Huell Howser, etc. Usually, have a stack of books to keep me entertained.

Don't miss cable tv one bit!

Had Comcast out in Denver, and although the digital cable had a Titanic load of channels, if it went outside the scope of history or science, or older films that were good films and some news shows that couldn't be had locally, I didn't watch the channels. There were maybe 20 channels in all, or 30 at most, so I was paying for channels I never watched. And the ammount they want to charge, is exhorbinant to say the least. So it went bye-bye once the special rate ended for initial sign up, mostly because it couldn't be afforded. Seriously though, out of the hundreds + channels carried, I was just not that interested in watching them. And it isn't that bad without it, except for where we are here in the rural area, we can't get any stations out of Detroit, Flint, or other local channels, but we get 9 Canadian stations. Which my Uncle is fine with. Since Grams came from Montreal, my Uncle has an obsession with all things Canadian, even though he won't admit it, and scoffs at the comment when I say it. The only reason I would get a dish, is to stay on top of what's happenning in America.

We have Comcast and my bill for HD TV service is $115/mo. We get very few HD channels, no premium channels and honestly there is never anything on worth watching. My wife watches movies she downloads off the internet anyway, so I might as well disconnect mine.

I wish they had said how many home have never had cable.

If I didn't have kids that love Sponge Bob, I would have got rid of it a long time ago. I hardly ever watch tv unless it's TVLand or the nightly news stations - thats about it.

If it is on - Im usually doing something else - like reading or on the net. As I get older, I have less and less use for it anymore.

Yeah, I am getting pretty ticked as TW Cable just went up another $5 per month

Yes Dish went up five as well , they are doing this to us to make up for those who are no longer using cable or satellite. I am dumping dish as soon as my contract is up in May.

Heck yeah, good post JD! My wife is semi-addicted to TV, and I am one that would rather do something else as a family, like a nice game of Monopoly or Poker. I dropped cable about a year ago, wanting to prove to my wife that we are wasting $60 a month. Sure enough, she still gets to watch the shoes that she liked, which were on major networks anyway, and on the nights there is nothing on, we play poker. Considering my wife is kicking my butt at poker, perhaps I should reconsider....