Harris Interactive Poll Finds Requirements for Cord-Cutting
Cord-cutting, the act of trading pay TV for free or far-cheaper Internet-streamed content, may not be a strong trend yet, but a Harris Poll shows what it would take for most people to make the switch.
Almost 9 in 10 Americans (87 percent) currently has pay TV, the poll found, and 56 percent of those would drop their service and go online-only if certain conditions were met. Getting all the shows they want to watch online for free is a requirement for 44 percent of the potential switchers.
Time delays aren't acceptable for a quarter of the potential switchers: 25 percent would need to get their favorite shows at the same time that they air on TV.
Finally, 16 percent would be willing to pay a small fee for online content if they could get all the programs they want, while another 16 percent would switch if viewing streaming content on a TV was less complicated.
Considering those conditions, it looks like the threat of cord-cutting is still a long ways off.
The poll also found that Americans were interested in viewing video online: 51 percent have watched a show online that they hadn't seen on traditional television, while younger people and men were more likely to have watched a show online.
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