“There’s more evidence of a growing subscriber exodus threatening to hit the traditional pay-TV ecosystem,” Todd Spangler reports for Variety. “In 2016, the industry dropped about a net 2 million subscribers — and an acceleration of pay-TV losses to more than 5 million annually ‘does not seem impossible,’ RBC Capital Markets analyst Steven Cahall wrote in a report Thursday.”
“The RBC survey found that 21% of current cable, satellite or telco TV customers were considering switching to a lower-cost virtual pay-TV service,” Spangler reports. “While ‘virtual multichannel video programming distributors’ like Hulu, YouTube TV and Sling TV are poised to grow, they’ll significantly cannibalize the existing base of traditional pay-TV customers, according to RBC’s analysis. About 15% of the addressable market for ‘vMVPDs’ will come from legacy cable and satellite subs, with 10% from ‘cord-never’ broadband-only households.”
“The RBC study comes after research firm eMarketer this month significantly upped its estimates for cord-cutting in 2017, projecting a 33% increase in U.S. adults cancelling traditional pay TV to reach a total of 22.2 million by the end of the year. (Note that eMarketer’s figures represent individuals, not households),” Spangler reports. “The biggest problem for traditional pay television remains consumer perception that cable and satellite TV is too pricey — and a bad value overall. Of existing pay-TV subs looking to switch to an internet-TV skinny bundle, 78% cited cost as the biggest factor.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re already there, thanks to Apple TV and the Playstation Vue, Netflix, and other content apps. With our new Apple TV 4K units arriving tomorrow and the promised Amazon Prime Video app on the way, it’ll only get better. Depending on your location and desires, throw in an over-the-air antenna and an HDHomeRun or other DVR and you’re good to go for cutting the cord.
FOAD, cable and satellite extortionists!
As this paradigm erodes and collapses, hopefully it’ll bring the content owners back to the table with Apple for some serious deals to remake “TV” in true Apple fashion!
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The ultimate cable television cord cutting solution for Apple TV owners – February 17, 201