According to new numbers from The Trade Desk, a digital advertising company that’s the largest independent ad provider, 64% of Americans either have cut, will cut, or simply had a cable television subscription.
While the survey showed a majority of people across all age groups losing a desire for cable television, there was a clear difference in age brackets. Just over half, or 56% of people age 55 and up were in the “why pay for cable television” category while 64% of people in the 35-54 age bracket and 74% of people in the 18-34 group fell in that category.
It might be a little surprising but it’s still true that at present, most homes in the US have cable television. But 11% say they plan to cut by the end of 2020 (18% if you’re considering just the 18-34 demographic).
Worth noting is the fact that this survey was conducted in early spring 2020, just as mass quarantines went into effect across America. This is valuable data for two reasons. For one, streaming is seeing unprecedented levels of popularity, likely causing some people to see they really can live without cable. Second, live sports is the reason over half of people surveyed say they still hold on to their cable package and you’d be hard-pressed to find any live sports at the moment.
So in short, only about a third of young people today care about cable, and that number is dropping. Just last fall, industry experts projected a 3% annual decline in cable, but it appears things may be tumbling at a much, much faster rate.
This survey was conducted in early April 2020 among just over 2,600 adults. While the survey was conducted online, the data has been weighted to be representative of all US adults 18 and up.
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