According to MRI-Simmons, 31 million Americans (about 12% of all adult Americans) have never paid for a traditional pay-TV service (the so-called cord nevers who have never paid for cable TV). According to the study, the average cord never age is 33 with an average household income of $52,800 in 2018, which is a 27% jump since 2017 when the average income was $41,500.
“Young people used to say that as soon as they got their first well-paying job, they would sign up for the full suite of traditional TV services,” said Karen Ramspacher, senior vice president innovations and insights at MRI-Simmons. “Today, there are many more options for connecting to TVideo content—so competition for these subscription dollars is fierce. As they grow in numbers and wealth, today’s Cord Nevers definitely represent an opportunity for content providers—but understanding the Nevers’ underlying motivations is essential to targeting them effectively.”
These numbers are likely to be close, but it is very hard to know exactly how many cord nevers there are. There is no easy way to track them like you can with Americans who drop a pay-TV service. How do you track someone not paying for something? So, the cord never group could be even larger than 31 million.
Now add in the number of Americans who canceled cable TV and you could be looking at the number of cord cutters to be over 40 million Americans.
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