A new study released this week finds that the cord-cutting subculture seems to be sufficiently content with its decision to toss aside traditional pay-TV services in favor of a customized, choose-your-own-adventure-style bundling of individual streaming services and content providers. According to the study, View My Video: Consumer Digital Media Consumption, a roughly 84-percent majority of cord-cutters are “at least somewhat happy with their decision,” while 37 percent said they were so satisfied that they’d never consider returning to a more conventional pay-TV structure.
The findings come from nScreenMedia, a site “dedicated to the new world of over-the-top delivery of media to all screens in a consumer’s life.” nScreenMedia surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults with broadband access. 8 percent said they were “pretty unhappy” with their cord-cutting experience thus far, and an additional 9 percent claimed they hate their current setup so much that they want their old service back.
There are some subtle nuances to the report, though: Not all cord-cutters surveyed have history with traditional pay-TV providers. 10 percent of the participants claimed to have never subscribed to a pay-TV service (“cord-nevers”), and 17% of those surveyed said that they were subscribers at one time but have since cut the cord.
nScreenMedia’s findings imply that pay-TV operators such as Comcast and Time Warner will, more than likely, meet resistance if and when they try to win back cord-cutters. It’s an uphill battle for the big cable and satellite companies, and it will only become more difficult as the prospect of saving money and hand-picking the content you want becomes increasingly cheaper and easier to accomplish.
