Survey says: streaming in, cable out

A little over a year ago, after noticing another price increase in the monthly cable bill, the decision to cut the cord and be free of the 600 channels that weren’t being watched became a reality. As luck would have it, the decision to cut the cord was made easier, and certainly more affordable, by the emergence of relatively inexpensive, WiFi-enabled, smart TVs like those from TCL. Recently, TCL, one of the largest and America’s fastest growing television brand released the results of its recent national poll* of 2,000 Americans on the subject of cutting the cord, experience with smart televisions, and viewing habits.

The results of the survey, at the very least, show that change is afoot in the television viewing habits of the American public. In short, smart TVs, streaming services, and cord cutting are in, while cable and dish-based television services are on the way out. In fact, the research shows that we, the cord-cutters of America, as a group, is growing exponentially.

• 80 percent of Americans say they’re using streaming services to watch their favorite shows, and 60 percent of people now own a smart TV
• Millennials are leading the trend, and more than 50 percent identify themselves as “cord cutters” (and the rest of Americans aren’t far behind, with 41 percent identifying as a “cord cutter.”)
• Baby Boomers are beginning to follow suit with one in five considering themselves as cord-cutters
• Nearly four out of five Americans are now streaming at least some, if not all, of their favorite content,

According to Chris Larson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TCL, “We believe that streaming is the future of television. Consumers today want complete control over their entertainment and content consumption, which explains why a growing number of Americans now own a smart TV.”

The survey also cites cost savings and flexibility of viewing are paramount for 75% of Americans when it comes to owning a smart TV. As an owner of a TCL Roku TV, I can tell you first hand about being able to watch just about anything, any time for little more than the cost of the monthly Internet subscription bill. Inexpensive, a la carte television viewing makes cutting the cord easy and, as this survey suggests, the trend is has plenty of room to grow.

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*Survey Methodology

TCL commissioned third-party research organization Survey Monkey to survey 2,000 male and female consumers in the United States on August 16-21, 2016. The sampling margin of error is +/-2.2 percent.