Still Attached…Mostly

Recent data from Frank N. Magid Assoc and Sanford Bernstein suggesting the cord cutting phenomenon has been overblown is certainly good news for cable ops—though the issue still bears monitoring. As the vast majority of consumers intend to maintain their traditional pay-TV subscriptions despite the increased use of alternative video viewing platforms, according to Magid, just 1% of consumers report that they have canceled their subscription service in favor of accessing content available on the Internet, and only 2.5% of consumers use Internet content exclusively. Moreover, only 3% of consumers report that they are even considering canceling their traditional subscriptions without replacing it with a competing subscription, and consumers using the greatest number of alternative platforms also tend to spend the most money on traditional subscription services. And while Sanford Bernstein’s Craig Moffett confirmed the fall of pay-TV subscriptions, negative YOY growth hasn’t materialized yet—growth actually remains in the +1% range—and he maintains that the greater prevalence of analog/lower-end sub losses can be explained in part by upgrades to digital. Tellingly, Moffett said that while growth in broadband-only homes is evident, it’s very small to date and the vast majority of those customers are satellite subs who get their broadband from cable and their video from satellite. See data below.