Cable’s Real Challenge Is Not Cord Cutters, But ‘Cord Nevers’

There’s still some debate over whether or not pay TV subscribers will begin canceling their cable subscriptions, and choosing to fill their entertainment hours with online video instead. But the real challenge for such providers might not be retaining existing cable subscribers who already have jobs and families, but convincing college students and young adults living with their parents to become cable subscribers when they get their first jobs and move in to their first homes.

Thanks to an aggressive connected-device strategy from over-the-top video providers like Netflix and Hulu, a new generation of young people has grown up with access to content on demand and on multiple devices. This is similar to the debate that played out during the early 2000s, as a generation of college students increasingly turned to wireless mobile services, eschewing landline connections that their parents relied on. The question is whether cable, satellite and IPTV operators will be more successful in converting the younger generation to pay TV subscribers than telcos were in driving interest in fixed-line phone services.