Audio Video News

Americans Embrace Alternatives to Cable and Satellite TV

SV Staff  |  Jul 18, 2016

Almost four in 10 homes with an 18-34 year-old resident rely on broadcast-only or Internet-only alternatives to cable or satellite, according to new research from GfK.

The study found that levels of broadcast-only reception and Internet-only video subscriptions have both risen over the past year, with one-quarter of U.S. TV households now going without cable or satellite reception.

GfK’s “2016 Ownership and Trend Report” reveals that 17 percent of TV households now rely on broadcast-only “over-the-air” reception, up from 15 percent last year, according to a summary of the research findings on TVNewsCheck.com. Another 6 percent say all of their TV comes from Internet-based streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and YouTube, up from 4 percent a year ago.

Another key finding was that TV households with a resident between 18 and 34 years old are much more likely to be opt for alternatives to cable and satellite TV; 22 percent of these homes get their TV exclusively over the air (versus 17 percent for all households) and 13 percent from Internet-based streaming services (versus 6 percent of all TV homes).

Overall, the report found that 38 percent of 18-to-34 households rely on some kind of alternative TV reception or video source, versus 25 percent of all homes. On the other hand, households with at least one resident age 50 or above were found to have higher rates of subscribing to cable or satellite services. More than eight in 10 (82 percent) have some sort of pay TV subscription, versus 75 percent for all U.S. TV households.

“The fact that a statistically significant increase in broadcast-only reception occurred over just one year may be further proof that the cord-cutting/cord-never phenomenon is accelerating,” GfK’s David Tice, told TVNewsCheck. “If you include homes that have no TVs at all—about 3 percent of all households—then less than three quarters (73 percent) of U.S. homes continue to have pay TV service.”

Broadcast-only reception is more common in TV households earning less than $30,000 per year (26 percent, versus 17 percent among all TV homes) and in Hispanic homes (24 percent). Households with incomes of $50,000 a year or more have higher levels of satellite subscription—27 percent, compared with an average of 21 percent.

COMMENTS
mhdaniels31's picture
Submitted by mhdaniels31 on July 19, 2016 - 3:50am

its funny i stopped using comcast cable and in the beginning used netflix(stream/bluray) and hulu now I use netflix and amazon and comcast is screwing me on my internet no matter how many times ive called to explain my bill is $24.99 for 25mbs they have yet to charge me less than $40 a month which leads to a call to get reimbursed every bill comcast will never change worst customer service but nobody else in miami can give you as much data for the price there is usually a catch with everybody else like att(250gb cap) at least comcast gives you a terabyte to go with there high speed although for 6 months from jan-june 2016 they started capping at 300gb but changed back in july my point is weather its time warner comcast or whoever else they still get you even if you cancel the cable oh and I forgot to mention there lovely calls twice a month trying to convince me to upgrade back to a tv package

thehun's picture
Submitted by thehun on July 19, 2016 - 9:05pm

about the Millennials don't want cable and satellite, they most likely don't have Blu Rays and CDs too, it's old school.

LilieBlake's picture
Submitted by LilieBlake on August 16, 2016 - 2:45am

That would be a great idea for those living in remote areas (if I got the principle right). However, that's not much innovatory taking into account the fact that wi-fi appeared long ago.
Innovation articles at http://writingacoursework.com/high-school-coursework/ .

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