The Emergence of Cord-Cutters

When Nielsen released the new Cross-Platform Report no one expected growth in a group of people deciding to opt out of a technology.

The biggest news from this year’s Nielsen study was the 22.8% growth in a group of households that have broadcast TV and broadband Internet access but are not paying for any other form of cable. Roughly 5.1 MM households now fall into this classification, or about 4.5% of U.S. TVHHs. This segment still views 122.6 minutes of traditional (in this case, only broadcast) television daily, but that is less than half (47.8%) of the TV viewing among all TVHHs. This segment is viewing up to 11.2 minutes of streaming video per day, over twice the amount across all households. This is the first validation from Nielsen of that elusive “cord-cutting” audience we have been reading about. Who is this segment of the population that is relying on streaming video for their entertainment?

Well, streaming video viewing remains concentrated among a small group of the heaviest streamers. The first quintile of video streamers, roughly 29.5MM people, stream an average of 21.1 minutes per day. The next heaviest quintile of video streamers are only streaming an average of 2.8 minutes per day, and 40% of people have yet to stream video in any form. They are mostly 18- to 34-year-olds, a demographic that has traditionally been difficult to reach through television, and should this group continue to grow we will have to find alternative methods to connect with them. Streaming video, which is currently only a focus for national advertisers, needs to get on local advertisers’ schedules to complement TV buys against younger demos.