NEW YORK – While new viewing platforms like Netflix or iTunes are often blamed for declining levels of cable and satellite subscription services, a new survey from Ipsos MediaCT found that ‘cord lovers’ continue to outpace ‘cord shavers’.
Key findings of a recent TV Dailies poll surveying prime-time viewers’ subscription service behaviour found that 64% of prime-time viewers aged 18-49 are ‘cord lovers’ – meaning they have maintained or added to their cable or satellite services in the past six months. By contrast, just 27% were found to be ‘cord shavers’, who had cut back on the level of services in the past six months, while 2% had cancelled completely. Only 7% of those sampled had not had a cable or satellite subscription at all in the past six months.
Results from the study indicate that those who have cut back on the level of TV subscription services in the past six months were also the most likely group to have cut back on paid online streaming services within the last six months. This suggests that their behavior may be a part of a broader effort to decrease their spending on entertainment across the board. Similarly, those without any TV service subscription may have a financial implication to their behaviour based on their comparative household income, as they had the highest overall streaming activity, but were the least likely to download shows from paid websites.
Despite this, the battle to re-engage cord cutters with traditional TV subscription services continues to rage on, with TV providers focusing their efforts solely on this group, a move not all experts agree with.
“The real opportunity for TV providers lies in those who do not have a subscription and those who are cutting back their subscription levels,” said Ipsos MediaCT director Gavin Bridge, in the survey’s news release. “In the future I expect we may see companies offering à la carte cable, or other more affordable packages to win over these groups. Now is a critical time for providers to act pre-emptively if they want to win over new customers and hold on to their viewers.”
Ipsos MediaCT’s TV Dailies study was conducted October 21 – 27, 2013. Findings are based on a national online sample of 2,015 adults aged 18-49 who view prime-time TV (between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM EST/PST and between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM CT) at least twice a week and do not work in any sensitive industries.
