After decades of decline, free over-the-air TV is seeing strong and solid growth.
According to Digitalsmiths, a Tivo-owned research company, there was 17.7% growth in over-the-air usage among cord cutters in the second quarter 2016.
Of the respondents who answered, “I do not have a pay-TV provider,” 18.0% cut service in the last 12 months, a percentage that rose slightly quarter over quarter. Of this cord-cutter audience, over half (51.0%) use an antenna for over-the-air (OTA) service to access basic channels on their TV, an increase of 6.5% quarter over quarter and 17.7% year over year.
However, even with 17.7% growth, only 51% of cord cutters use an antenna to receive free TV. Although as much as 10% of cord cutters likely live in areas with weak or no over-the-air TV that leaves a lot of cord cutters who are content just streaming.
These are also not new cord cutters who have not purchased an antenna yet. Of the survey respondents 46.9% said they have been a cord cutter for over a year, and 35.1% have never had cable or satellite service.
Although over-the-air TV has seen huge growth this year there is still a lot of room for growth even among cord cutters.
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