There is a clear acceleration of the trend where all TV program services could be delivered over the Net. Marketers need to be updated with this new opportunity.
In a survey of 5000 U.S. users, Chicago-based consulting firm Waterstone Management Group found that 59 percent have discontinued cable TV in favour of OTT. Another 29 percent respondents claimed to be considering doing so, and this will certainly make marketers reassess the future of cable TV versus over-the-top (OTT) TV like Netflix and Hulu.
Conducted in December, the survey asked one question: “Someone who ‘cuts the cord’ gives up a traditional cable TV subscription in favour of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. WHAT BEST DESCRIBES YOU?
- I cut the cord 3+ years ago
- I cut the cord 2 years ago
- I cut the cord in 2018
- I plan to cut the cord in 2019
- I’m on the fence
- I don’t plan to cut the cord
- I’ve never had cable”
The results were broken down by 43 states and Idaho topped the list of cord-cutting states, with the survey showing that 72 percent in that state cut the cord. In the least cord-cutting state, New Jersey, only 36 percent had done so.
One significant fact that emerged was that cord cutting is climbing fast but cable companies haven’t responded well to the competition of quality content or to pricing from the likes of Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu.
The bottom line is, even if the specific state percentages may seem surprising, the basic thrust is that dropping cable subscriptions in favour of OTT programming has become very popular. With 5G high-speed wireless data transmission delivering speeds up to 10 gigabits/second, wired set-top cable boxes could vanish completely, making all TV services in some form of OTT. Marketers need to take note that OTT is the medium of early tomorrow, and cable TV’s day fading, fundamentally changing how advertisers buy TV program ads and how TV ads are attributed.
