18 million Americans cut cord

Over 18 million Americans cut the cord between 2014-2020, new research has found.

According to Parks Associates, the US pay TV industry lost millions of subscribers during the period while the broadband market has simultaneously accelerated. In 2020 alone, over 

The report notes that the Covid-19 pandemic acted as an accelerant for change, with vMVPD services being the only segment of the space to experience growth over the past year. Such services are set to grow to over 23 million subscribers by 2024, while the traditional pay TV subscriber base will decline to 53 million US households.

Kristen Hanich, senior analyst, Parks Associates, said: “Online pay TV service from virtual MVPDs, players that target the general population instead of offering services to a specific geographic footprint, grew by an estimated three million. vMVPDs overall have grown to represent an increasingly large percentage of the pay TV market – accounting for 16% of US pay TV subscriptions in 2020.”

The report goes on to note that ISPs are looking to differentiate themselves from traditional pay TV operators by encouraging bundling with MVNO services. Some 4% of US broadband households are subscribed to Comcast Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, or Altice Mobile.

Hanich added: “US ISPs collectively have over 110 million residential and small business internet subscriptions as of Q1 2021. The standalone broadband market will continue to grow, increasing pressure on these service providers to find the next combination of services that best leverages this massive subscriber base.”