The “demise of television subscription” is several years away at least, according to a JD Powers report, with just 3% of US consumers having “cut the cord” to their home television service subscriptions. “The predictions of the demise of television subscription service as we know it are clearly premature,” said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications.
Fifty-two percent of TV customers surveyed by JD Powers for its, “2011 US Residential Pay-to-View Study” said that they continue to watch broadcast TV in the traditional way. This being the case, “the current model will remain viable for the next two to three years, at a minimum,” he added.
In April, JD Power researched customer satisfaction across six factors among 6,815 households that evaluated pay-to-view, OTT video providers including Amazon, Apple TV, Blockbuster/Blockbuster Express, Google TV, Hulu/Hulu Plus, local video stores, Netflix and Redbox. Overall satisfaction averaged 743 out of a possible 1,000 points. Netflix and Redbox garnered particularly high ratings.
There were significant differences in the percentage of cord-cutters when it came to age, the analysts noted. Six percent of Gen Y customers, 17-34, said they no longer subscribed to a “residential television service as compared to 2% of Baby Boomers, 47-65. Four percent of Gen Xers, 35-46, said they had cut their cords while just 1% of those 66-86 said they had done so.
Results also showed that 27% of respondents said they watch videos on a handheld mobile device. Mobile phones (15%) were used most often, though tablets accounted for 12%, which “could increase notably,” according to the press release. Twelve percent watched videos on a music player. Service satisfaction on mobile devices and music players was above average, according to the report.
