More Than Half of Cord Cutters Did So In Just Last Two Years More than half (51.8%) of current cord cutters are quite new to the phenomenon, having cancelled their traditional pay TV service in just the last two years according to a new study by The Diffusion Group. Unsurprisingly, the majority of these users were driven to cut the traditional TV cord due to high prices -- and constant rate hikes -- from the cable TV industry. The feeling of eroded value hasn't been aided by the seemingly-endless number of programming disputes in the sector, which often lead to programming blackouts, ugly public bickering...and yet more rate hikes.

"Spending $70+/month for service that provides 2X value seems odd when you can pay $10/month for a service with 1X value," says TDG co-founder Michael Greeson on cord cutting's rising popularity. "The calculus of today’s TV subscriber has been radically altered by the presence of SVOD services like Netflix." That, combined with the rise of alternative streaming video options, has opened the door to a wave of cord cutters that previously hadn't considered the option. "Whether from independents (Sony Vue, YouTube TV, Hulu) or from incumbents (DirecTV Now, Dish’s Sling TV), consumers now have greater flexibility in deciding for which channels they receive and pay," notes Greeson. Curiously the group scorns companies like Dish (Sling TV) and AT&T (DirecTV Now) for being flexible and releasing cheaper alternatives to their traditional, more expensive cable TV offerings -- without understanding the inevitable result is an erosion of higher-paying customers. "True, market conditions are challenging, but many incumbents are blindly hastening the pace at which the value of robust fully-priced TV packages declines," insists Greeson. But many of these companies are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either they refuse to evolve their service pricing and channel lineups and lose more customers to cord cutting due to inflexibility, or they adapt and offer popular, cheaper, flexible services that ultimately erode their higher-paying customer base. Greeson also applauds Comcast, which has been managing to buck the cord cutting trend with modest subscriber additions (it added a modest 42,000 net TV subscribers last quarter). "TDG observed long ago that incumbents were going to have to make a choice: either resign themselves to being a ‘dumb-pipe’ provider, or invest in using IP, change the TV experience, and become the go-to source for all things video," says Greeson. "Comcast tuned into the later, investing in the hardware and software required to bring the power of IP to the legacy TV experience, and the company is now gaining video subscribers when others are reporting loses." Except it's worth noting that while Comcast will credit its amazing ingenuity and new X1 cable box for the fact it has (slightly) bucked the cord cutting trend, as we've noted repeatedly it's really Comcast's monopoly over broadband in many markets that's to thank for the phenomenon. With telcos refusing to upgrade aging DSL lines at any real scale, these users are fleeing to what's often their only option for next-gen broadband speeds: Comcast. When they arrive they'll often take TV service since it's bundled more cheaply than broadband alone; but that doesn't mean they plan to keep -- or even use -- that bundled TV service. While there's more cord cutting on the horizon, most of these cable companies can still fend off subscriber losses doing something they've historically refused to do: start seriously competing on price. While there's more cord cutting on the horizon, most of these cable companies can still fend off subscriber losses doing something they've historically refused to do: start seriously competing on price.







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Most recommended from 59 comments



Anoncee74

@comcast.net 5 recommendations Anoncee74 Anon Cut the cord 5 years ago. Cut the cord 5 years ago. Not because of price but because I got tired of ads and content overall. Should telcos reduce prices or even remove ads I am not coming back. Reason: my life since cord cutting became more meaningful. Why waste it for some indoctrinated content.... molfert

join:2002-02-19

Calgary, AB 3 recommendations molfert Member Matches the economic downturn This should not be a surprise since North America has gone into a major economic downturn over the past 3-4 years. Households are looking to reduce costs during this search they will cord cut (or cord shave) their services. With the economic improving will we see gains on cable TV packages?

Anon401f8

@myvzw.com 3 recommendations Anon401f8 Anon There was a time There was a time when commercials were 30 or 60 seconds. That has definitely changed. I don't want to spend 5-10 minutes watching commercials or fast forward for 1-3 minutes to skip them and end up using subliminal advertising on myself. Of course at night, I can watch hours of people making fun of President Trump over and over and over again. I'd rather watch the commercials, I think.



Everyone seems to want to pay for advertising to be put before me. I don't have the time to dedicate to that nor the inclination. I also no longer have the money.



It might be a good idea for these companies to realistically look at their customers, before they leave in large masses.



A slightly different subject:

Will Verizon's metrics be impacted when they throttle unlimited data after 10 gig of tethering? BiggA

Premium Member

join:2005-11-23

Central CT ·Cox HSI

ARRIS SB6141

Asus RT-AC68

2 recommendations BiggA Premium Member How long will they hide the cord cutters? Comcast, Verizon, and others are hiding would-be cord cutters with these aggressive bundles. How much longer is this going to go on, until they finally realize that they aren't making any money on these people relative to just having them as broadband subscribers? When Comcast, Charter, Verizon and Cox decide not to hide cord cutters, then that's at least a couple million more cords cut within a year or two as the bundle promos run out. Timmn

join:2000-04-23

Tinley Park, IL 2 recommendations Timmn Member Tired of paying for stuff I never watched. I cut the cord because I was tired of paying for channels I never watched. With my Roku box, I pay for only the channels I want to watch, and I can watch their content when I want to.