SNL Kagan: Cord-Cutters Will Snowball To 10% Of U.S. Homes By 2015

Firm forecasts over-the-top video substitution for 4.5 million U.S. households in 2011

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/20/2011 5:35:59 PM

While so-called cord-cutting has been relatively minimal so far, an estimated 4% of occupied U.S. households -- 4.5 million homes -- will have substituted Internet video options for cable, satellite or telco TV service by the end of 2011, according to a new forecast from research firm SNL Kagan.

"Though the thin slice of households relying [on over-the-top] substitution could be dismissed as evidence of a lack of momentum behind cord cutting, the 4.5 million households it represents are not inconsequential, particularly in light of the basic subscriber declines for the cable industry," the firm wrote in a report released Wednesday.

Multichannel substitution via over-the-top delivery will grow from 2.5 million households at the end of 2010 (2% of occupied U.S. homes) to 12.1 million by 2015 (10% of all households).

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