Traditional TV viewership is in decline as people cut the cord and opt for cheaper streaming services like Netflix and Hulu instead. But what about the 90 million U.S. subscribers who still pay around $100 a month for traditional pay TV?
Americans are still paying for cable because it’s bundled with their internet
Behind live TV, it’s the next most common reason not to cut the cord.
Rani Molla was a senior correspondent at Vox and has been focusing her reporting on the future of work. She has covered business and technology for more than a decade — often in charts — including at Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.
Americans are holding on to their pay TV subscriptions because it’s bundled with their internet subscription, according to a new survey by Deloitte. Some 56 percent consider the bundle a top three reason to keep their TV subscription, partly because it makes the overall price seem like a better deal.
Cable and satellite companies often include TV, internet and telephone for a single reduced price. For many, the cost they’d have to pay for internet alone isn’t much less than they would pay for all three services individually, so the perceived value can seem tempting. In turn, the cable companies are able to eke out higher overall monthly fees by throwing in those “extras.”
Unsurprisingly, the most common reason for keeping pay TV is the ability to watch live broadcasts, with 71 percent of TV subscribers saying so.
Interestingly, 70 percent of pay TV subscribers also say they are paying too much for their subscriptions. Couple that statistic with the proliferation of lower-cost “skinny bundles” and broadband options, and the two main reasons for keeping traditional TV — live TV and the internet bundle value — seem less substantial.
Other reasons for retaining pay TV include DVR, and because people “have had it for so long and don’t want to change.”
Deloitte’s survey was conducted online during November 2017 among 2,088 consumers. It’s weighted to be representative of U.S. consumers.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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