Cord Cutters Want Their History, Nat Geo Shows

Cord-cutting may be the future, but people who aren’t subscribing to cable still want history.

A new survey by Beta Research asked cord-cutters and non-cable TV subscriber which basic cable networks are most interesting to them, and 43% pointed to History and National Geographic Channel. Right behind them were Discovery, Food Network, Animal Planet and A&E.

The results are interesting at a time when programmers are trying to figure out the millions of households that have broadband but no cable subscription.

Among smaller networks, cord-cutter signaled desire for Sony Movie Channek, FXM, Cooking Channel, FXX and BBC World News.

Beta found that 36% of cable subscribers said the were extremely or very interested in dropping cable TV and watching only the TV programming available on their tablets and computers.

The study was conducted in March and April with a national sample of 2,422 cable subscribers and a sub sample of 328 non-subscribers.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.