More TV Cord -Cutting In 2013

Pay-TV “cord-cutting” and “cord-thinning” climbed a bit in the third quarter -- with perhaps higher activity to come.

Among pay TV customers -- representing some 90% of U.S. TV homes -- 17% either trimmed pay TV networks/services or removed them completely in the third quarter of 2013. This number was up from 14% in the second quarter and 13.4% from the first quarter, according to Digitalsmiths, a video discovery company. The research also indicates that 34% of respondents answered “maybe” when it came to changing their pay-TV company. Nearly 7% are planning to change their cable, satellite and telecommunications company; almost 3% are planning to cut service altogether, and 2% will switch to a third-party app or service. Still, 54.2% said they would maintain their existing service.