America’s favorite pastime isn’t baseball or football–no, it’s watching TV. If you’re like me, you were probably half-raised on the dozens of channels available to us growing up, which only seemed to increase year by year. But lately, cable TV just hasn’t been worth it. At least, not when you have streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go gaining ground and offering equally–if not better–quality programming, and for a better price. Now, thanks to new data from eMarketer, it is estimated that by the year 2018, one of five households won’t even humor the option.
According to the data, the aforementioned subscription-based programs have expanded faster than ever before, especially those that offer bundles which include channels that were previously unavailable without a cable subscription. Current projections by eMarketer say that by the end of this year–a mere two weeks away–households that are cordcutting (dropping cable TV) or cord-nevers (never signed up with cable TV before and never plan to) will be about 17% of the country.
Is this a surprise? No, not at all. We live in an era where records, cassettes and CDs became obsolete when mp3 players gave listeners the ability to store large amounts of music and listen to them with a higher degree of control than ever before. We’re even seeing streaming music services replacing the notion of downloading individual songs. Streaming video services have nearly wiped out the DVD industry while continuing an ongoing battle with bluray. As internet speeds and video quality increase exponentially, even blurays could be decreasing in favor in a few years. Even video games have streaming services now, still in their infancy, but gaining traction.
And while TV shows have lived strong on the air, the truth of the matter is that no one wants to pay the exorbitant bills that cable TV companies charge now. Especially if they’re going to get ten Cinemax channels that all show the same thing at around the same time. Or half a dozen Showtime channels you have to pay an arm and a leg for, but only receive one or two shows you care about.
No, the future of TV, of all media, is control. We like the ability to check out things we’re interested in, to watch the shows we care about, and to ignore–and not be charged for–the things we don’t. We don’t mind paying ten bucks a month when we have options. And even when there’s nothing amazing on, we’ve now embraced the idea of “Netflix and Chill,” allowing couples and friends all over to watch something random and relax.
Cable TV: you have fought hard. And you’re not going anywhere yet. But if you don’t change, there could be a gloomy forecast in your future.
Source: eMarketer via the Wall Street Journal