Cost, OTT Rivals Cited as Pay-TV Share Drops to 56%: Pew
The number of Americans who watch TV via cable or satellite plunged from 76% in 2015 to 56% this year, said a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults fielded Jan. 25-Feb. 18. Some 27% are cord-cutters, and 17% have…
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never had a pay-TV subscription, it said. Seventy-one percent of those who don’t use cable or satellite TV services say they can access the content they want online; 69% say the cost of pay-TV is too high; 45% say they don’t watch TV often. The drop in pay-TV subscribers reflects the "changing landscape of connectivity and media," said Pew Wednesday, with internet streaming services like Netflix and Hulu growing in popularity, a trend accelerated by the pandemic. Demographics play a role, Pew noted, with 34% of respondents ages 18-29 getting TV through cable or satellite, down 31 points from 2015. Of the 30-49 age group, 46% get TV that way, a 27-point drop. Among those ages 50-64, 66% are pay-TV subscribers, down 14 points for the period; 81% of Americans 65 and older are pay-TV customers, down 5 points. About 53% of nonsubscribers 18-29 don’t have pay TV at home because they don’t watch TV often; for 30-49-year-olds, it's 47%, a third for 50-plus. Nearly 80% of nonsubscribers 50 and older gave cost as the reason, 72% of the 30-49 group and 57% for ages 18-29.