84% Of Cord-cutters Are Happy With Decision To Leave Pay-TV

According to new research from nScreenMedia, 84% of US broadband consumers that have cut the cord are at least somewhat happy with their decision. The news is even worse for pay-TV providers: 37% are so happy they vow they will never come back.

In the new free report nSights: View My Video – Consumer Digital Media Consumption, nScreenMedia reveals that 17% of US broadband consumers say they had pay-TV and now no longer have it. 10% say they have never subscribed to pay-TV, and 74% say they currently have it.

This report examines how OTT viewing is impacting the balance of consumption between the video sources commonly available; including pay and free TV, DVD and Blu-ray discs, digital media, free and paid Internet streaming services and home videos. The report looks at the group of consumers that have cut the cord, assessing how happy they are with their decision and what they miss the most about pay-TV. Video enabled device preferences are also presented.

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After reading the report you will know which video services consumers prefer, and how strong that preference is. You will also know the likelihood that a cord cutter will return to the pay-TV fold and how operators are best placed to woo them back. You will know which devices consumers prefer to use for their video viewing. There is a special section that focuses on behaviors of the millennnials (aka Gen Y.)

This report draws on a recent survey of 1000 U.S. broadband users, and notes that the bulk of the cord-cutters come from people in the 18–49 age range. Millennials, those aged between 18 and 29, are heavily represented in the group that have never had pay-TV services. 19% report they do not have pay-TV, while just 5% of those in the 29-49 age range say this.

The survey finds that for the most part, people who have cut the cord are happy with their decision to do so. 84% are at least somewhat happy with their decision to leave pay-TV behind, with 37% saying they will never go back to the service. Just 17% are unhappy with decision, and 9% wish they still had the service.

The authors observe understatedly that this is not good news for pay-TV service providers, and suggest that if the companies are to reverse the downward trend in subscriptions they need to find a way to appeal to this growing group of defectors. Clearly price is a strong factor in the decision of consumers to leave pay-TV. So, part of any solution the industry tries to win back defectors must include lower priced options. However, are there other things the industry can do to appeal to cord-cutters?

nScreenMedia asked the cord cutters what features they missed most about pay-TV. 31% said they missed shows they couldn’t find anywhere else. Programs like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead are clearly having some impact on this group, but other content types thought to be “anchor tenants” of pay-TV do not appear to affect this group. In particular, sports channels were cited by just 9% of survey respondents as something they missed. 30% were adamant that they missed absolutely nothing pay-TV offers.

One of the things pay-TV has started to try is creative bundles of broadband and content to try and lure non-subscribers. Verizon and AT&T are both trialing broadband anchored packages including HBO. For $50 a month, Verizon will provide 50 mbps broadband, local TV channels and HBO. AT&T provides 18 mbps broadband, basic TV and HBO for $39 a month. The nScreenMedia research suggests this approach will have little impact on the cord cutters. Just 6% said they missed premium movie services such as HBO and Showtime.

The report View My Video also provides data on video service adoption and usage, video device ownership and special section on millennial media consumers. The report is available for free from the nScreenMedia website:
http://eepurl.com/UfNSH

Why it matters

The common belief is that most people who have disconnected from pay-TV did so to save money.

While this may be true, the report concludes that the overwhelming majority of cord cutters are happy with their decision, and they may be very difficult to persuade to come back.

Via:
http://www.nscreenmedia.com/84-cord-cutters-happy-decision-leave-pay-tv/