Cord cutting refers to those who give up their cable TV plan
and find TV and movie watching over the internet, TV antenna,
smart phone, computer, etc. The research firm eMarketer says that
by 2016 year end, 16.7 million U.S. adults had already cut the
cord and that by the end of 2017 it will be 22 million. The five
biggest TV providers are projected to have lost 469,000 customers
during the third quarter of 2017.
Sixty one percent of 18
to 29 year olds say the primary way they watch television now is
with streaming services on the internet, compared with thirty
one percent, who say they mostly watch via a cable or satellite
subscription and five percent, who mainly watch with a digital
antenna, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in
August 2017.
The main cause for cord
cutting has been the high cost of cable, bad service, annual
price increases, and lack of competition in many areas of the
country. Cost reductions average
about 50% savings and range from a few dollars a month to as
much as a 90% drop in monthly fees.
In addition, many are
finding better picture quality and more diversity of offerings.
Even TV antennas provide a sharper picture than offered by any
of the major cable companies, because the signal is not
compressed. With the coming proliferation of reasonably priced
4K TVs, picture quality is even more important and cable
companies offer virtually no 4K content, with the exception of
some sporting events.