-->
Save your FREE seat for Streaming Media Connect this August. Register Now!

Cord-Cutter and -Never Households Rising 4 Points in 2019 to 34%

Article Featured Image

At the end of 2018, 30% of U.S. households didn't have a pay TV account (cable, satellite, or telco). That's an increase from 26% at the end of 2017. And that number hasn't plateaued yet, as it will increase to 34% by the end of this year.

News 1That forecast comes from Convergence Research, which released a report today on U.S. and Canada pay TV and streaming adoption. In 2018, nearly 5 million U.S. households became cord-cutters or cord-nevers.

Pay TV is on the decline in the U.S., shedding 4.01 million subscribers in the in 2018. Convergence expects the area to lose 4.56 million more this year.

Pay TV is still the more lucrative area, however. Even though more U.S. households now have an OTT subscription than a pay TV subscription, pay TV's average revenue per user (ARPU) will still be three times that of OTT household ARPU in 2021.

vMVPDs have had a hard time finding an audience, and Convergence sees them as no match for pay TV:

"With ARPU half the traditional TV average, lackluster margins, programming gaps and technical issues, live multichannel OTT provides little counter to category killers Netflix and Amazon that sell at lower price points and essentially without advertising. We believe a number of OTT plays, including large and niche, will fail due to insufficient subscriber traction, cost, and competition," the report says.

After looking at 66 OTT companies, Convergence said U.S. OTT subscription payments grew 37% to $16.3 billion in 2018. It forecasts that number to grow to $22 billion by the end of this year.

The full report, "The Battle for the North American (U.S./Canada) Couch Potato: OTT and TV," is available for purchase.

Streaming Covers
Free
for qualified subscribers
Subscribe Now Current Issue Past Issues
Related Articles

U.S. Cord-Cutting Is Slowing Down as Fewer Do Without Cable

Here comes Warner Media, Apple, and Disney, giving viewers more OTT choices than ever. So why are many keeping their cable cord intact?

The Number of Cord Cutters Will Grow By 17% in the Next 5 Years

OTT video services will see more support in the short-term, as OTT-only cord-cutting households will grow by 17% from 2018 to 2023.

Cord-Cutting Is Only a Factor in North America, Says Kagan Report

The number of broadband-only homes in the U.S. will continue to decline, but globally cable and IPTV are strong.