71% of U.S. Viewers Are 'Loyal to the Cord,' Finds GfK Research
Is the video streaming market reaching a plateau? Maybe so, says consumer research company GfK MRI. It notes that 71 percent of consumers in the U.S. are "loyal to the cord," and have no plans to drop their pay TV service. However, it's also seen a downward shift in that number, as 77 percent were loyal in 2015. Young adults—those age 18 to 34—are the least loyal, with only 58 percent today saying they have no plans to drop pay TV.
The reasons why people plan to keep their pay TV services say a lot about how far streaming options need to go if they want to offer a replacement. Most people like the reliability and comfort of their cable or satellite plans. The most popular reason for keeping pay TV is that viewers are used to it. For young people, access to live programming and the ease of channel surfing are also popular reasons.
Age is a big dividing line with pay TV. GfK notes that 52 percent of loyal pay TV users who are 50-years-old or more have never streamed any video. This group has only accessed TV shows through traditional pay TV accounts.
These numbers come from 24,000 in-person, in-home interviews on cord-cutting intentions.
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