Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

Almost Half of All Pay-TV Customers Are Likely to Cut the Cord This Year

A new report by Parks Associates reveals that it’s likely 43% of all broadband households in the U.S. paying for traditional TV will switch to streaming options within the next 12 months. The main reason? Cable is too expensive. There’s big incentive for TV subscribers to cut the cord in favor of Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors like Hulu + Live, YouTube TV, Sling, and more, with cost being just one of the reasons.

The Parks research shows that 17% of vMVPD subscribers are relative newcomers who jumped the traditional Pay TV ship within the last 12 months. Some of their main reasons for making the switch in addition to price include the appeal of the flexibility vMVPDs offer by providing targeted package options on a variety of platforms.

Recent cord cutters also cite switching in order to watch specific channels or programs they couldn’t get with their traditional pay TV package. With dozens of new streaming-only shows and movies being released all the time, it’s obvious people want to be in on the popular originals that come with streaming services and packages.

Plus, people who made the switch in the last 12 months also say there were too many channels they didn’t watch on regular TV to justify paying for it.

“Subscriber losses in traditional pay TV continue, while the vMVPD category continues to grow, thanks to consumer price sensitivity and preferences for platform flexibility,” said Paul Erickson, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. “Traditional pay-TV operators have online delivery in their roadmaps, if not already deployed. We expect vMVPDs will continue to grow dramatically and will gradually become the dominant offering in the pay-TV landscape.”

From the article "Almost Half of All Pay-TV Customers Are Likely to Cut the Cord This Year" by Tmera Hepburn.

Previously In The News

The Smart Money: Residential Security Continues Market Shift

Parks Associates’ data shows that consumers no longer view security as a fixed installation, but as an adaptive service. AI-enhanced cameras, integrated subscriptions, and flexible monitoring options...

Streaming services with ad-supported plans outpace ad-free tiers

Parks Associates released new findings on the state of the U.S. video market during its eighth annual Future of Video: Business of Streaming conference. The research firm’s “S.O.S. State of Str...

Netflix, iHeartMedia Ink Video Podcast Distribution Deal

Upwards of 85 million adult U.S. consumers say they listen to a podcast for at least one hour each week, according to Parks Associates. From the article, "Netflix, iHeartMedia Ink Video Podcast Dis...

Forecast: US subscription TV revenue at $190.7bn in 2030

Parks Associates has announced the release of its Subscription Video Forecast: 2025–2030 report, offering an outlook on the future of the US TV and streaming video market. The report projects stea...