LRG: Cord Cutting Growth Fueled in Part by Movers and Renters

Just over 8 in 10 US households (83 percent) subscribe to some form of pay-TV service, according to new market data from Leichtman Research Group (LRG). That’s down from 87 percent in 2010, but sill above 2005’s 81 percent. Housing dynamics are contributing to cord cutting growth, with movers who do not subscribe to pay-TV increasing by 75 percent between 2010 and 2015.

The total number of US subscribers to pay-TV services as of end-2Q is similar to that of end-2Q 2010, but occupied housing has increased more than 4.5 million units, according to the US Census Bureau. Taken together, nationwide pay-TV penetration decreased from five years ago. Seventeen percent of US households who don’t subscribe to a pay-TV service did pay for one in the past year. About 70 percent of current non pay-tv subscribers paid for a pay-TV service three or more years ago, or they never subscribed at all.