Cable TV companies are continuing to lose subscribers to streaming services as we start 2024.
In 2023, only 5% of U.S. internet households had only a cable TV service, according to a survey from research firm Parks Associates. This is a steep drop-off from the 27% of households had only a cable TV service reported in 2018. At the same time, 33% of Americans only use streaming services.
This comes after experts’ prediction that we’ll see the first yearly decline in cable TV penetration — or the number of cable TV subscriptions relative to the number of households — worldwide in 2024. The drop is expected to continue into 2025.
Cord cutting has hit the cable TV industry hard.
In September, it was reported that streaming accounted for 53.8% of all TV time. In comparison, 75% of all cable TV customers cut back the amount of time they spend on cable TV, and 5% of cable TV households had canceled their subscription in the second quarter of 2023.
The Parks Associates’ data also showed that 57% of viewers subscribe to both cable TV and over-the-top video services like Netflix — an increase from 52% reported in 2018. In addition, viewers with only an OTT subscription climbed to 33% from just 15% in 2018.
It remains to be seen what 2024 holds for cable TV companies, but it’s unlikely we’ll see audiences make a significant return to cable services.
Image credit: Parks Associates
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