Advanced Television

TDG anticipates Q3 ‘cord cutting’ decline

November 6, 2015

Research conducted by TDG in the first half of 2015 suggests that the percentage of adult broadband users (ABU) moderately to highly likely to cancel their pay-TV service declined 20 per cent between early 2014 and 2015.

According to Michael Greeson, TDG Co-founder and Director of Research, cord cutting proclivities have held steady for several years, with approximately 7 per cent of ABU pay-TV subscribers moderately or highly likely to cancel their service in the six months following the survey. “In early 2015, however, the number declined to 5.7 per cent. This is the first time in five years we’ve seen significant change in these metrics,” he notes.

TDG’s research was conducted in the first half of 2015 and thus indicative of cancellation proclivity in the second half of 2015. “If judged by recent Q3 operator reports, the survey data was directionally correct, meaning that TDG Members saw this coming,” notes the company.

Notably, the percentage of consumers saying they ‘definitely will cancel’ their pay-TV service in the next six months has been cut in half, down from 2.9 per cent in early 2014 to 1.4 per cent in early 2015, accounting for all of the top-2 regression. “The fact that the decline occurred among those most likely to cut the cord was key, and ultimately translated into lower losses in Q3,” says TDG.

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