• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, November 11, 2016

Cord-cutting and cord-shaving could become the norm for a little less than half of pay-TV customers next year.

That’s a bold estimate, but given the growth in streaming services, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

A research report from FocusVision and Zanthus found that 41% of 1,000 cable customers surveyed plan to snip the cable cord or cut back significantly in the year ahead.

By contrast, only 16% of OTT customers plan to do so. That’s probably because some of them  already have, but that’s also because they’re happier with the services, the study found. Among OTT customers, 59% say they’re satisfied with their services, compared to 27% of pay-TV customers, and they’re more likely to recommend their OTT service to a friend. About 62% would recommend their service compared to 43% of pay-TV subscribers.

However, pay TV still wins when it comes to volume of hours users spend watching, which clocked in at 18 hours, compared with 11 for OTT services.

One of the reasons OTT is poised to keep growing is that mobile devices are becoming a first choice for many users. In the last four years, viewing on mobile phones has increased significantly, according to Ericsson ConsumerLabs. Consumers watch about four more hours per week on mobile phones than they did in 2012, with TV set viewing down by 2.5 hours a week since then. That’s an overall gain of 1.5 hours per week in video viewing.