The number of people cutting the cord in the U.S. this year is set to increase massively thanks to the emergence of Web television as a viable alternative to cable and satellite subscription services.
Cord Cutting Americans
To be a TV viewer who has access to anything decent is an expensive business in the States. Many Americans pay $100 or more to gain access to the big channels, and get a lot of crap, smaller ones thrown in whether they want them or not.
There is, however, another alternative, and it’s one that an increasing number of people are choosing. That is, of course, online video, using the range of services, most of which are (currently) free, to replace or embellish their TV viewing options.
How Many?
There has already been one report suggesting that 800,000 U.S. households have cut the cord over the past two years. But new estimates suggest these figures will pale into insignificance compared to the number of cord cutters in 2010.
A new study of more than 6,000 U.S. consumers by the Yankee Group suggests that “one in eight consumers will eliminate or scale back their cable, satellite or other pay-TV service this year.” With 100 million cable/satellite/telco subscribers at the moment, that could mean 12.5 million are going to reduce or cut their service in the next 12 months.
Web Video Options
But why not? There are certainly enough online options now available. There are far too many to list here, but the main ones are:-
Hulu – Premium content from a range of broadcasters. Currently (and probably always) available for free, but a paid option is thought to be on its way, accompanied by an iPad app.
Netflix – A DVD-by-mail business which is becoming a big player in the world of online video thanks to its ‘watch Instantly’ service. This offers thousands of TV shows and movies which can be streamed to a huge range of devices.
YouTube – The ubiquitous online video service which Google is slowly turning into the setting for professional content as well as the UGC we all know and love. The newest innovation: video rentals.
Apple iTunes & Amazon VoD – Not free, but for those who are happy to buy or rent TV series and movies.
Conclusions
There is one obvious downside to the amount of people cutting the cord, and that is that it’ll likely make the networks, broadcasters, and content creators want to start charging for access online as revenue from traditional TV is lessened.
[Via CNN Money]
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