One-Fourth of U.S. media consumers prefer broadband services over pay-tv

A report recently released by the newly established firm, The Diffusion Group, indicates that the number of U.S. households subscribing to a broadband service but not a pay-TV service will grow from 38 million in 2020 to 54 million in 2025, up 42% in the five-year period. "By 2025, nine-in-ten U.S. households will use residential broadband, of which roughly half will use a pay-TV service from a legacy or virtual MVPD,” said Paul Hockenbury, veteran industry researcher and TDG senior analyst. “The space between the two—so-called broadband-only or BBO customers—offers video creators and distributors lucrative growth opportunities.”

Approximately ten years ago, the agency projected streaming's ability to overpower Pay-tv and impacting its viewing time and subscriptions. In 2010,  8% of U.S. broadband households lived MVPD-free, with streaming video considered no more than a nice supplement to the 500-channel universe of pay-TV. By 2015, the rate doubled to 16%, then doubled again to 35% in 2020. This trend will continue through the decade, with a tipping point occurring no later than 2026, after which a majority of U.S. broadband households will be MVPD-free. “A decade ago,” adds Hockenbury, “the BBO segment was comprised almost exclusively of bleeding-edge adopters; those defined by a fascination with new products and services and a pocketbook to fund their experiments. Today, the BBO segment is largely defined by early-mainstream dispositions: buying only when the price has come down, the technology has peer-demonstrated benefits, and plenty of support is available.”

Other points made evident through the report inlcude BBOs recorded viewing time to be 28 hours each week. Without a pay-TV service in the home, consumers regularly must turn to non-MVPD content sources, including streaming and OTA, Roughly 60% of BBO TV time is spent watching streaming video, 50% greater than their counterparts, with SVOD by far the TV content source used most often.  Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu are the three most popular SVOD apps among BBOs, as they are among their counterparts.

However, in each case BBOs are more likely than BBPTVs to use the app, especially Hulu (51% vs. 41%), Two-thirds of BBOs watch free ad-supported streaming video on TV, with YouTube by far the dominant service, used by 76%, twice its next-closest competitor, Pluto, used by 36%, and More than one-third of BBOs use a terrestrial TV antenna, among which OTA content is viewed 12 hours each week. “Innovative MSOs recognized years ago that it was just a matter of time before BBOs comprised a majority of their customers,” says Michael Greeson, TDG President and co-author of the new report. “While a strategic inevitability, only recently, however, has this segment rose to the level of tactical priority.”