Putting a firm number on how many cord cutters that are out there is very difficult. While we can see that cable TV has lost 2.8+ subscribers since 2012, according to Leichtman Research Group, that number is a bit deceiving.
For example, Dish includes their over 2 million Sling TV subscribers as part of their traditional pay-TV numbers. So you could say if you take out Sling TV numbers its more like 4.8+ million plus new cord cutters. Other companies also like to group streaming subscribers and this can make it difficult to put a finger on how many cord cutters there really are.
One thing we do know is that in 2012 there were 314 million people living in the United States. In 2017, there are 325.7 million people living in the United States. That means while the population of the United States has grown by over 11 million people, cable TV has lost at least 2.8+ million subscribers to cord cutting.
This likely means the biggest growth in cord cutting is cord nevers. These are the millions of 20-somethings who have moved out of their parents’ home or a college dorm and into an apartment or house and have decided to not pay for a traditional pay-TV service. Exactly how many are cord nevers is impossible to put a finger on.
As best we can tell from looking at studies and talking to people in the industry cord cutting is somewhere around 25 to 30 million Americans. Yet that is just an estimated guess because no single place keeps these numbers, so it is impossible to get a firm grasp on how many cord cutters there really are.
Did you know we now have a FREE app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire? Click HERE to download our app.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.