Consumers Sticking with Free TV
Despite efforts by pay-TV providers, consumers have proven surprisingly resistant to the call of pay TV and the number who have chosen to convert from antenna to cable or satellite is falling short of many expectations. At one time, SNL Kagan analysts thought that as many as 20 percent of the nearly 16 million over-the-air-only households would migrate to cable or satellite during 2009. But now the company thinks the conversion rate will be closer to 10 percent or a gain of 1.6 million new pay customers (one million for cable and the rest of satellite), says Justin Nielson a senior analyst at SNL Kagan. What's changed? Nielson cites the recession. "More people are going to opt for the converter boxes than signing up for cable just because of the cost. It is a one-time cost for the converter box." he says. Nielson also thinks a lot of individuals are happy with their converter boxes and are "actually impressed" with the new signals and the HD programming that they are able to get over the air.
Consumers Sticking with Free TV