Consumers Aren't so Keen on Cutting the Cord After All

AdAge Article Published April 18, 2011 – It might just be time to cut out the "cutting the cord" debate. The percentage of American households that owns a TV continues to inch up, as does the number of pay-TV subscribers. After the brief decline, pay TV saw an increase in subscribers in 2010, according to SNL Kagan. It's much slower growth than in previous years, but it is still growth.

Last quarter Ad Age and its survey partner, Ipsos Observer, found that people were evenly split on whether they would be comfortable giving up pay TV for another premium option, such as Netflix streaming, Hulu or free streaming options on the web. This quarter's survey of traditional media habits found that figure essentially unchanged. (Interestingly, there is also no meaningful difference between the 18-to-34 age range and 35- to 64-year-olds. However, the over-65 demographic was much less comfortable dropping pay-TV services, despite data showing growing comfort with digital platforms.)

But the survey also showed an important countertrend: While a small percentage of respondents are cutting the cord, it seems even greater numbers of them are adding more and different options. It's not an either/or situation with pay TV and the internet. "People want to control how they are entertained and where they are entertained," said Kevin Hartman, senior VP-director of customer intelligence at DraftFCB.

To read the full article, please visit the AdAge website.