A New Low: Just 46% Of U.S. Households Subscribe To Traditional Cable TV

geosoco@kbin.social to Technology@lemmy.world – 183 points –
techdirt.com

The “cord cutting” trend cable execs spent a decade claiming was a fad just broke another round of new records. According to Leichtman Research, major cable TV providers lost another 1.7 million subscribers last quarter, as users flock to streaming, over the air TV, TikTok, or, you know, books. Roughly 17,700 customers cut the cord every single day during the second quarter of 2023.

Over the last year (Q2 ’22 to Q2 ’23) the traditional cable TV sector lost a whopping 5,360,000 customers, compared to 4,235,000 customer defections the year earlier. The current number of U.S. households that has a cable connection sits somewhere around 46 percent, down from 73% at the end of 2017.

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Historically, a big cable company like Comcast or Charter wasn’t too hurt by “cord cutting” because it could just jack up the cost of monopolized broadband access. And while that’s still generally true; here too cable giants are seeing increased competition from community broadband (co-ops, utilities, municipalities), 5G home wireless, and phone companies belatedly upgrading to fiber.

Interestingly though, streaming TV providers also wound up losing subscribers, albeit at a much slower rate:

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Seriously? 46% is so damn high! I have a hard time believing that. Is it just because there are so many baby boomers still out there or what? I can't imagine paying for commercials. The last time I had cable was 16 years ago.

A lot of those are condos where you get cable and Internet bundles together, and you don't even have a choice. Others might be getting a bundle but only using the Internet side. I was sick with the first for years.

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My first thought was that it was way too high. I haven't had cable in... 10 years?

Edit: no, it was more like 15. Holy shit I'm old.

2002 was the last time my household had cable.

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