• by Wayne Friedman , July 21, 2020

COVID-19-related economic woes have accelerated TV consumers looking to cut home entertainment costs -- in part, because they use more free TV streaming services.

About half of all TV households in a recent survey said they have been streaming more free TV during the pandemic than they did previously, according to a Roku-backed study on cord-cutting.

Last month, a Deloitte survey found 39% of American consumers reported a decrease in their household income since the pandemic began. During this period, 47% of consumers said they used at least one free ad-supported streaming video service.

A week ago, NBCUniversal’s launched its Peacock premium streaming platform. One of Peacock’s main options is a free-to-consumers, ad-supported streaming platform.

Roku -- a digital media player/smart TV platform company -- also looks to make gains with many free ad-supported apps on its service.

The Roku study also says over half of traditional pay TV subscribers and so-called “cord-shavers” -- those who have reduced their pay TV monthly costs -- are now looking to reduce subscription streaming costs.

In addition, research says 45% of cord-shaver pay households say they are likely to cut the cord completely by the end of this year.

The study, done by Macro Consulting, surveyed 7,000 Americans ages 18 and over in March 2020. In May, it surveyed another 2,000 Americans ages 18+.