Forecast: Broadband-Only Homes To Hit 54M In 5 Years

by Wayne Friedman , October 27, 2021

Broadband-only homes continues to rise -- signaling more cord-cutting for traditional pay TV services, with higher streaming content consumed.

Estimates are that U.S. broadband-only homes will rise 42% to 54 million in five years from its current level of 38 million, according to analysis of The Diffusion Group —a division of Screen Engine/ASI.

The research says the current 38 million broadband-only homes (BBO) represents 35% of all U.S. TV homes.

Nielsen says there are 120 million overall U.S. TV homes.

Streaming represents 60% of overall TV viewing time in those BBO homes -- 50% greater than homes with broadband and either a traditional or virtual pay TV service.

Viewers in broadband-only homes watch 10% less TV per week -- 28 hours -- than broadband/pay TV households. About one- third of BBO homes also have terrestrial TV antennas, where 12 hours a week of content is viewed.

Around 66% of broadband-only homes watch free ad-supported streaming video. YouTube is the most dominant ad-supported streaming platform, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu most popular subscription video-on-demand platforms.

broadband, cord-cutting, research, streaming, tv

4 comments about "Forecast: Broadband-Only Homes To Hit 54M In 5 Years".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

John Grono from GAP Research, October 27, 2021 at 5:33 p.m.
How is "broadband only' homes defined?

Wouldn't most homes be 'broadcast' homes as well. That is, they have an aerial to receive Free-To-Air broadcasts. The aerial may be a legacy, but does that mean they have to take their aerial down?
Reply

Ginger Cookie from Consultant, October 28, 2021 at 7:59 a.m.

They should have included genre breakdowns with 60% of BBO viewers watching streaming...its another layer of insights and more specifically content interests/trends for what the true lifeblood ultimately is...ad dollars and broadcast rights, e..g Ryder Cup, Olympics, etc.

Michael Greeson from TDG, October 28, 2021 at 12:22 p.m.

John, a BBO household isn't non-TV or non-broadcast, just without a MVPD subsxcription.

Michael Greeson from TDG replied, October 28, 2021 at 12:23 p.m.

Ginger, the report from which the data is drawn includes a detailed analysis of streaming services used.