7.6 Million U.S. Homes Now Cord-Cutting

by Wayne Friedman , April 21, 2014

Pay TV cord-cutting is still on the rise.

Some 6.5% of U.S. homes in 2013 -- 7.6 million homes -- are cord-cutters, according to a new study by Experian Marketing Services. This is up from 4.5% -- or 5.1 million homes -- in 2010.

Experian defines cord-cutting as homes that have high-speed Internet but no cable or satellite television service. According to Nielsen’s 2014 estimates, there are 115.6 million U.S. TV homes and 294 million TV viewers age 2 and older.

The results also indicate that adults under the age of 35 are twice as likely not to have a pay TV service -- 12.4% of those households where an adult under the age of 35 lives are cord-cutters. Experian says these young adults may not be necessarily be defined as “cord-cutters” because they may never have had a pay TV service.

When you factor in those young adult homes with either a Netflix or Hulu account, Experian says, the share of young adult households that don’t have a pay TV service jumps to 24.3%.

The results also reveal that adults who watch video on either a tablet or smartphone are 1.5 times more likely than average to be cord-cutters. Those who watch streaming video on a television are 3.2 times more likely to be cable-cutters.

Adding to this category, the study says those using television primarily for watching streaming or downloaded video are 5.7 times more likely to be cord-cutters.

The data is drawn from a Simmons Connect study of 24,219 U.S. adults in summer 2013, which looked at consumer lifestyles, attitudes, brand preferences and cross-platform media use covering 11 platforms, including smartphones, digital tablets and home computers. The report also sources data from Hitwise for online consumer behavior.

"Watching TV on Tablet" photo from Shutterstock.

cable tv, internet, media, streaming, trends, tv

8 comments about "7.6 Million U.S. Homes Now Cord-Cutting".

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Alan Wolk from The Diffusion Group, April 22, 2014 at 3:01 p.m.
Not sure how these numbers-- which are based on a survey-- stack up with other numbers that show total pay TV households shrunk by only 0.2% in 2013.
Someone's numbers are off.
Thoughts?
Reply

Edmund Singleton from Winstion Communications, April 23, 2014 at 5:37 a.m.

Now that I am moving I had to cancel my DirecTV account, I did not consider that it cost me over a thousand plus dollars a year, after the move I don't think I will be returning...

jennifer lopez from jizz, April 23, 2014 at 6:34 a.m.

Age can play a part in pay-TV's appeal, according to Forrester Research. While only 6% of all online adults have cut the cord in favor of Net-delivered video, the amount of cord cutters rose to 10% when results were narrowed to 18-to-24-year-olds.
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Peter Benjamin from MyOffices, April 23, 2014 at 1:51 p.m.

Imagine the future of getting your HBO an ESPN for $16 only plus internet which comes from your Phone. That is the scariest thought for cable. Its even worse for Satellite. With so many channels now looking for a home to show their content its growing a new market of users who see no need in keeping the cord attached. This will be payback for the phone companies who are pissed that the cable companies went into the phone businesses. Tvonthego.com

Doug Garnett from Protonik, LLC, April 23, 2014 at 4:53 p.m.

Interesting that their definition probably includes a rather large load of non-cord cutters. We should remember that cable TV rejectors have always been primarily the high value, high education households. So their title looks like a lie. Haven't been able to look seriously at the study to ensure that the data is correct.

Tom Cunniff from Tom Cunniff, April 23, 2014 at 5:12 p.m.

Alan Wolk's comment is absolutely right. Consumers consistently say in surveys that they will cut the cord... then consistently fail to follow through. I was saying in a meeting just yesterday that cable companies have identified the magical price point at which everyone hates, yet everyone continues to pay their monthly bill.

Gabriel Law from The Search Agency, April 23, 2014 at 5:36 p.m.

The numbers seem wrong -- all 115.6M HHD has broadband internet? If not, you won't get the 6.5% figure. I think only about 86M HHD has broadband in the US, making the "cordcutting" percentage higher at almost 9%.

Edmund Singleton from Winstion Communications, April 24, 2014 at 8:24 a.m.

When I stated that after moving, I may not return to DirecTV, I should have added that of the hundred or so stations available I only watched six or seven, talk about over kill...