US pay penetration on course to dip below 50%

US pay TV penetration is set to fall below 50% within five years.

According to Digital TV Research, the unwanted milestone will be reached in 2026. The researcher forecasts 60 million pay TV subscribers by 2027.

This represents a significant downturn in pay TV penetration over the past decade from 91% in 2010 and down from 60% in 2021.

Unsurprisingly, the decrease of pay TV subscribers will be due to cord-cutting. THe number of households without any form of pay TV subscription is set to increase from 11.34 million in 2010 to 72.86 million in 2027.

Pay TV revenues peaked in 2014, at US$101 billion, while a  US$48 billion decline is forecast between 2014 and 2027. This is set to halve the overall total to US$53 billion.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “The US lost 6 million pay TV subscribers each year from 2019 to 2021. Losses will decrease from now on, but the 2027 total will be 12 million lower than 2021.”