More Baby Boomers likely to cut the cord with cable, report says

The report expects more people to ditch cable TV next year — and it won’t be just younger viewers. The report expects more people to ditch cable TV next year — and it won’t be just younger viewers. Photo: MINH UONG / Minh Uong / New York Times Photo: MINH UONG / Minh Uong / New York Times Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close More Baby Boomers likely to cut the cord with cable, report says 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The number of people who ditch cable TV next year will probably increase, and it won’t include just younger viewers, according to a report released this week.

About one fifth of pay-TV subscribers are thinking about trimming or cutting their service in 2016, continuing a trend that accelerated this year, says research and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Yet while adults 18 to 34 still lead the trend of doing away with cable, or never subscribing in the first place, even older viewers who might remember when all TV was free are as just as likely to dump cable.

“Older consumers, who grew up with free access to limited channels, are more likely to decide that pay-TV subscriptions simply aren’t worth the cost, even if that means missing out on some of the best programming,” said the report, titled “Videoquake 3.0: The Evolution of TV’s Revolution.”

Other research shows that U.S. cable and satellite companies are facing a downturn from cord cutters, those who cut the cord with their pay-TV subscriptions, or “cord nevers,” a phrase used to describe people who never bother subscribing.

Traditional pay-TV services lost about 357,000 subscribers in the third quarter, which was an improvement from the 605,000 they lost in the second quarter, according to industry research firm MoffettNathanson.

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 1,200 people taken in September found that 79 percent subscribed to a pay-TV service, down from 91 percent in 2014. And of those current subscribers, 23 percent said they did some “cord-trimming,” scaling back on their services.

And about one fifth of current subscribers are thinking about cord cutting or trimming, said Christopher Vollmer, global entertainment and media adviser leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Strategy&.

One reason is that while subscribers are paying for an average of 194 channels, they regularly watch only 17.

And while adults 18 to 24 were 67 percent more likely to say all they needed was Netflix or Amazon Prime, the report found that people ages 50 to 59 were 78 percent more likely to be “cord nevers.”

The past year also saw a marked rise in Internet TV services that don’t depend on a pay TV subscription, but are a mix of stand-alone networks or aggregations of more popular pay-TV channels.

Those include services like Netflix, Sling TV, CBS All Access and HBO Now, but also include specialized channels like NBC’s comedy streaming service SeeSo. This week, Amazon added a Streaming Partners Program that lets Amazon Prime members add a subscription network like Showtime or Starz.

Vollmer said these services, which the industry calls over-the-top video, are giving subscribers who buy them more of the personal channel selections they want before deciding to cut the cord.

However, the survey found that 52 percent of Netflix subscribers, and 53 percent of Amazon Prime subscribers, continue to subscribe to a pay TV service.

That showed that while over-the-top services are gaining ground, it may be coming at the expense of home videos like DVDs or going to the movies rather than just cord cutting, Vollmer said.

But Vollmer said the pay-TV industry needs to offer more personal channel selections to “get more in line with consumer trends.”

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny