This year’s Olympics ended up being the first time that cord cutters could access every event even though there was no free option. Not only was the Olympics Games friendly to cord cutters it also ended up being friendly to antenna companies.
According to Channel Master, antenna companies saw an over 1,200% increase in antenna sales during the Olympics.
“When we came in Monday and realized what was happening we immediately picked up the phone and tripled the number of warehouse personnel,” said Coty Youtsey, president and CEO of Channel Master. “It was clear that U.S. households without pay-TV were buying antennas to be able to watch the Olympics.”
Most of the biggest Olympics events ended up being aired on NBC and available for free from a television antenna. Although some streaming services, such as PlayStation Vue and Sling TV, offer NBC most Americans can still get it 100% free over the air. When a live event comes that people really want to see often an antenna is the best option.
“Cord cutting started with the digital transition in 2009,” said Shelley O’Connell, director of marketing for Channel Master. “It wasn’t about streaming, it was about the HD signal from the major broadcast networks that you could now get from your TV antenna for free. There is still no value in TV today that can hold a candle to the television antenna, and U.S. consumers are catching on.”
This jump in sales for the Olympics is on top of a huge jump in antenna sales that happened in 2015 after Sling TV came out.
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