Nielsen says cord cutters on the rise but traditional television not going anywhere
As we move more and more into a digital world where we get just about everything we need from the Internet, well entertainment wise at least, we are finding the more traditional outlets for our entertainment needs taking a hit. We have seen it happen with music as digital downloads have surpassed the sale of physical media, like CDs, for the first time ever and we are starting to see it happening in other mediums as well with the increasing sale of e-books as a strong indicator.
One of the buzz words that is making the rounds in this changing landscape is ‘cord cutters’ and it refers to those people who have ditched the standard way of getting their television entertainment courtesy of cable companies, and instead, rely on getting their television show fix via the Web using services like Netflix and Hulu.
This of course has cable companies and television networks more than a little concerned but as much as tech pundits might like to think otherwise, and as Nielsen’s new report show, traditional television isn’t going anywhere. That isn’t to say that ‘cord cutting’ isn’t on the rise, it is, but traditional cable television subscriptions are still the way that 90% of Americans get their TV fix.
One of the interesting interpretation of the numbers from Nielsen is that is would appear that those people who are sticking with cable subscriptions watch more television, at 4 hours and 39 minutes per day, than those who have cut the cord and rely on the Web for their ‘television’ fix; which according to Nielsen is about half the time than traditional TV viewers.
As Frederic Lardinois at Silicon Filter noted on the news this ‘cord cutting’ demographic will likely change as younger viewers grow up.
What will definitely matter in the long run, though, is that younger Americans (12-34) now watch less TV per day than before. Teenagers in 2011 watched nine minutes fewer day than in 2010, for example, and young adults between 18 and 24 watch six fewer minutes per day. The only reason overall TV watching is up, according to the NYTimes’ Brian Stelter, is because those over 65 are watching more TV “than ever before.”
As these younger viewers grow up, traditional TV will likely never quite play the same role for today’s teenagers and young adults as for their parents. Video content, after all, is video content, no matter whether you stream it to a tablet, a Boxee box or your phone. Indeed, watching live TV probably feels rather antiquated to many younger Internet users.
Personally if it wasn’t for my wife telling me that I had better sleep with one eye open if I cut the cord I’d be getting all my entertainment strictly from the web.
