Currently, there are 91.3 million pay TV customers. That number is quickly dropping. Pay TV services are losing 11,000 customers every day. Those numbers are enough to make Pay TV service providers very nervous and for good reason.
If the companies continue losing customers at a rate of 11,000 per day, they’ll have no customers left in 8,300 days or just under 23 years.
If that number rises to losing 15,000 customers per day, pay TV services will lose all customers in 6,087 days, or about 17 years.
And, the worst case scenario for pay TV providers, if they start losing 20,000 customers per day, they’ll be out of business in just 4,565 days or 12 and a half years.
So, What’s Happening?
Why are so many customers choosing to ditch their pay TV provider? And what are they doing to replace them?
While the numbers above aren’t great news for those in the pay TV industry, they also aren’t quite the extreme that many were predicting when it came to people ditching pay TV in favor of streaming services. The industry seems to be dying, just slower than expected.
Cord Shaving
One reason for the slower decline of cable TV is that subscribers are hesitant to leave something they’re comfortable with and jump into cord cutting completely. That’s where the term “cord shaving” comes into play. Many cable customers who are unhappy with the price they’re paying are starting out by slimming down their cable subscriptions and supplementing with streaming services.
Original Content is Drawing in Viewers
While this group may not be ready to fully take the leap into cord cutting, they’re finding the benefits to subscribing to services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. According to one study, a driving force in the number of new subscribers to those services has been original content. That makes sense because these shows and movies are some of the most talked about and obviously can’t be watched with cable.
Streaming Services from Cable Companies Make It Easier
Others are taking a larger step toward cutting the cord by losing their cable service and switching to the streaming services offered by the same company, for example, DIRECTV Now. These services seem to offer the best of both worlds for those who have enjoyed their cable subscription but are ready to start making the shift.
Many People Don’t Care About Live TV
There used to be a need for live TV. People wanted to watch their favorite shows in real time and talk about them at work the next day. Now, things are changing. Studies are showing that millennials just don’t have an interest in watching live TV. Streaming shows or binge watching entire seasons has become the norm. That not only eliminates the need for cable, but also for live TV streaming services. Many are opting for Netflix and Hulu and foregoing live TV altogether.
What’s Next?
Because many streaming services aren’t releasing exact numbers showing how quickly their numbers are growing, we can’t be sure how many former cable subscribers are switching to a completely cable free content setup or skipping live TV options in favor ofon-demandd content.
What we do know is that cord cutting is growing and content streaming services will most likely only continue to grow. As cable costs continue to rise, streaming services are providing excellent alternatives to cable packages and pulling more customers away every day.
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