The Number of Cord Cutters Will Grow By 17% in the Next 5 Years

Over-the-top video services will only see more support in the short-term, as the number of OTT-only cord-cutting households will grow by 17% from 2018 to 2023. That projection comes from a report created by Concentric, a simulation software company.

The report also sees a rise in the number of households that use a combination of OTT and other sources (including pay TV or broadcast). That group will grow by 10%

After that, the report sees serious declines: The number of households with cable only will decline by 14%, households with satellite only will decline by 8%, and those that rely only on over-the-air broadcast will decline by 20%.

Slicing the data another way, Concentric says the biggest category is households that use both OTT services and something else. This group represented 41.1% of the market in 2018 and will expand to 45.4% in 2013. The next biggest area is cable-only households, which had 22.1% of the market in 2018 and will drop to 19.0% in 2023.

The numbers seem bad for pay TV, but Concentric says there's still plenty of time for the major players to innovate and grow their audience.

"While the shift in the market may seem like cause for alarm—and, certainly, the headlines continue to herald the fall of cable TV—the reality is not nearly as bleak for cable companies. The market share of cable, satellite, broadcast, and premium is too big to be challenged by OTT-only over the next five years. Many of these traditional providers are already drawing subscribers with their own OTT offerings, indicating that while linear providers have been slow to respond to consumer demands for OTT services, they will still be successful in implementing streaming options within the next five years," the report concludes. "Ultimately, the players that move quickly to respond to the needs and wants of the consumers will avoid stagnation and a slow decline into obscurity."

For more data, download "The Future of Streaming Video" for free (registration required).

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