TV Subscription Changes [CHART]

Chart - TV Subscription Changes

21% of American pay TV subscribers say they either reduced (14%) or eliminated (7%) their pay TV subscriptions in the past year, according to [PDF] results from an online survey released in August by the Ericsson ConsumerLab. This compares to 12% who report having increased their spending on pay TV. The remaining two-thirds have not changed their pay TV spending.

Reports regarding cord-cutting and cord-shaving have shown varied estimates of late. Survey results from Chadwick Martin Bailey released in March found 16% of paid TV subscribers who have high-speed internet access saying they are highly likely to cut back on cable in the next year (“cord-shaving”). A Deloitte study from January indicated that 11% of respondents to be considering cutting the cord to focus on watching their favorite content online, although an April 2012 report from Convergence Consulting suggested that 2.6% of US TV subscribers, or 2.65 million subscribers, cut the cord between 2008 and 2011 to rely solely on online, Netflix, and other sources. Differences in study methodology may contribute to these variances: for example, the Ericsson online survey may skew higher for cord-cutters and cord-shavers, as these online adults may be more willing to trade their pay TV subscriptions for online content than the average American. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.