Consumer perception of a poor value proposition in pay TV remains the top trigger for changing, downgrading or canceling services, according to new video cord cutters research from Park Associates. Therefore, cord cutting behavior is driven in part by comparing the perceived value of OTT to pay-TV, which is generally priced higher.
Some one-third of cord cutters as well as one-in-10 switchers or cord shavers who have made pay-TV changes in the last year said they plan to substitute OTT for their previous pay-TV service.
“The primary driver for pay-TV cancellation and downgrades continues to revolve around pricing and perceived value,” said Brett Sappington, Parks Associates senior director, research, in a prepared statement regarding the video cord cutters research. “While some consumers consciously plan to use OTT video services to address the absence of pay-TV content, most consider each offering on its own merits,” Sappington said. “The deeper issue is in the influence that OTT video services have on what consumers consider to be a ‘good’ value. When video services with good quality are available for under $15, it forces operators to justify an $80 pay-TV bill.”
Other recent cord cutting behavior research findings include:
- Gfk found that 71% of people with pay TV subscriptions have no plans to drop those subscriptions
- The rate at which people are cutting the video cord dropped in the second quarter of this year, according to Kagan, the media research arm of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Image courtesy of flickr user Alyssa & Colin.
Joan Engebretson contributed information to this report.
