We’re cutting the cord and we’re not cutting the cord.
A just released report from Deloitte on the state of the media business said that 9% of U.S. consumers have
ditched their cable or satellite service and another 11% are considering canceling. The reason? They can watch the shows they like online. What’s more, another 15% of respondents say they will
most likely watch movies and TV shows via online video options in the near future, suggesting that consumers are becoming more willing to try out new ways to watch shows.
Those numbers will
likely keep growing because viewers are simply more conversant watching TV shows via other devices. Deloitte also found that 22% of consumers had watched a TV show from a free online source (such as
Hulu) in the last six months, while 21% had watched from a show’s Web site; both figures are on par with the year before. About 9% of consumers used a gaming console to watch TV, up from 6% in
2010; and 6% had used a smartphone, up from 5% a year ago. About 3% are watching TV on tablets. Meanwhile, about 42% of respondents had streamed a movie online, up from 32% a year ago, and 28% in
2009. The findings come from a survey of nearly 2000 consumers in the United States about their media preferences.
“Our data shows that while Americans may be less interested in physical
content, their appetite for digital content continues to grow. That appetite, coupled with the introduction of new technologies, is leading consumers to access the content they want on a number of
different devices,” said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and U.S. media & telecommunications sector leader, Deloitte LLP, in a statement.
So does all of this translate into actual
cord-cutting? Leichtman Research Group has found that over the past year, the major multichannel video providers have added about 240,000 video
subscribers.
Interestingly, the Deloitte study contains some data points that underscore increasing usage of multichannel video features. In 2011, about 35% of respondents used their DVR (what
are the other 65% of you doing???), up from 32% a year ago. Meanwhile, 26% of consumers had used on-demand, up from 20% in 2010.
There is plenty of compelling data underscoring that cable and
satellite operators are continuing to grow video subscribers. And there is compelling data to indicate consumers are totally cool with watching TV shows and movies online.
Let’s just
hope the pie keeps getting bigger, shall we?