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Pay TV Subs Slide Some More

7 August 2013 913 views 3 Comments

And, it’s only down from here? Pay TV subs have declined for the third quarter in a row, nearly 1 million households over the last year, and not even the cable companies can deny cord cutters are on the rise. Plus, a look at the ingredients you could use to become a cord cutter, too.

Analyst Craig Moffett and his eponymous company, Moffett Research, have bad, though not terrible, news for cable and satellite operators. In the second quarter, pay TV subs fell 360,000 (0.3 percent) over the same period in 2012 — the third straight quarterly decline.

“Cord cutting used to be a myth. It isn’t anymore,” writes Moffett. “No, the numbers aren’t huge. But they’re statistically significant.”

Pay TV subscriber losses over the last year total 911,000 and, the year before that, there were 258,000 — not yet a bloodbath, but growth has clearly dried up.

Pay TV: The Goldie Locks Package?

The average US household gets 104 channels. In any given week, subs only watch 15 of those channels, paying $86 per month (2012) for the privilege.

Alternately, a cord cutter with a stand alone broadband connection ($46.25/mo) can choose the service — Hulu ($8/mo), Netflix ($8), Redbox Instant ($8), Aereo ($8) and/or Amazon Prime Instant Video ($79/yr) — with just the shows and movies he wants.

Tie it altogether with a Roku from $50 and add a digital antenna (from $9) — ABC, CBS, CW, Me TV, MyNetwork, NBC, PBS, This TV, etc — and the value gets pretty compelling.

Or, skip all of that and drown your sorrows in endless cat videos.

So, yes, cord cutting is real, more popular than ever and you have a recipe to make it work for you…

What’s your take?

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Apple TV Takes 56% of Set Top Market
Cord Cutter: Amazon Prime Video Adds Miramax
Cord Cutting: Nearly 60 Million Americans ‘Get’ Free TV
iTunes Podcasts Now on Roku

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