New Study: Cord Cutting Population Grows

Many suggest that more and more cable users are cutting the cord, and moving towards other streaming solutions to satisfy their TV content needs. Now, a new report from Experian Marketing Services looks at exactly how far that trend has progressed, and the answer is actually farther than most would think. Experian defines cord cutters as people with high-speed Internet who have never subscribed — or stopped subscribing — to cable or satellite. That number has risen by 44% in just three years. In 2013, 6.5% of total households across the country could be classified as cord cutting in this way, up from 4.5% in 2010. The most telling statistic, though, is for houses who have Netflix or Hulu; nearly one fifth of Americans who subscribe to these streaming services don’t subscribe to cable at all. And of households within the age bracket of 18–34 who subscribe to Netflix or Hulu, one quarter of those don’t pay for TV. As far as trends go, this one, then, is pretty well defined as young Internet users — i.e. Millennials — who are finding their services online, rather than on TV. As these young adults age, they could very well become the ruling majority rather than an increasing minority.