One of the greatest discussions about cord cutting is how much money can you save by cutting the cord on cable TV. Thanks to our new survey of more than 1,000 cord cutters, we have a good idea of how much cord cutters really do spend.
According to our readers, 63.3% pay for four or fewer streaming services, 47.3% pay for three or fewer streaming services, and 27.3% pay for two or fewer streaming services.
While most cord cutters still pay for four or fewer streaming services, the number of cord cutters paying for five or more is up slightly since October 2023. Last October 66.2% of cord cutters paid for four or fewer services. Now that number is down to 63.3%. Part of that number may be the growth of sports across multiple streaming services like the NFL airing a playoff game exclusively on Peacock back in January.
So, what would four streaming services cost every month for the average cord cutter? (Why with ads? Because cable TV has ads.)
- Disney+ $7.99 with ads.
- Paramount+ $5.99 with ads.
- Discovery+ $4.99 with ads.
- Netflix $6.99 with ads.
Total Cost: $25.96 a month.
According to survey, more than 66% of cord cutters spend $50 or less on services each month. Only 23.5% of our readers pay $51 or more each month.
Here is a full breakdown of how much our readers spend on TV content each month.
- 5.7% spend $0 to $10 a month.
- 10.1% spend $11 to $20 a month.
- 12.5% spend $21 to $30 a month.
- 19.9% spend $31 to $40 a month.
- 23.9% spend $41 to $50 a month.
- 23.5% spend $51 or more a month.
4.5% declined to answer or said they don’t pay anything for video services. (This group was not included in the 66% of cord cutters who pay less than $51 a month.)
Why no live TV streaming services like FuboTV or Hulu with Live TV? In short, our survey shows most cord cutters don’t pay for live TV streaming services. If you are not a sports fan, you do not need a live TV streaming service. There is also an argument to be made that the on-demand services listed above offer more content compared to traditional cable TV.
According to a report from the Leichtman Research Group, almost 7 million Americans became cord cutters in 2023 but only 1,894,000 new people subscribed to a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV.
Increasingly the average cord cutter is deciding that on-demand services like Disney+ or Max is all they need. This is helping Americans keep their costs of TV below $50 a month when most of these services offer options for under $10 a month.
The question now is will new price hikes on streaming cause cord cutters to cut back even farther.
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