Streaming Video Accelerates Cord Cutting Trends into 2019

As subscription streaming services continue to grow, data from Leichtman Research Group suggests that US homes with streaming services are on track to nearly surpass traditional pay TV services.

About 69% of US households have a subscription to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu. 43% of US households have more than one streaming service. Of those surveyed, the average subscriber reported paying for three services.

New streaming services are coming onto the scene, creating high levels of competition across the media landscape. For example, Disney’s streaming subscription will cause a ripple effect across other streaming platforms as Disney-owned content is offered exclusively on the new Disney OTT media service. This could become a theme across the media sector as other companies explore more direct relationships with their customers. Competing streaming services are expanding their offerings in an attempt to add value to their service. With added content comes the promise of price hikes and ads.

Additional findings include:

• Streaming video service have overtaken pay TV in about 80% of US broadband homes. 76.4% use a streaming service and 74% have a pay TV service from a cable, satellite or fiber provider.
• While streaming subscriptions are widespread, there is a less defined trend due to homes that have access to streaming subscriptions but are not paying for them.
• Streaming services such as YouTube TV, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now, and FuboTV have continued to evolve and expand their channel offerings while mitigating their pricing models.
• Data from The Diffusion Group shows that 21% of broadband homes with a pay TV subscription have considered cancelling their subscription. Of that, 56% said the service was too expensive for what they got.

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