Report: TV Consumers Want 20 Channels For $40 Per Month

A new TV consumer survey says the desired average price for a pay TV cable package comes to just over $40 a month -- for around 20 channels.

The third-quarter video survey from Digitalsmiths, a TiVo TV search/discovery company, says the average $40.50 monthly package consists of around 17-18 channels. The top 10 most desired channels are: ABC, Discovery Channel, CBS, NBC, History, A&E, Fox, HBO, National Geographic Channel and PBS.

Over 76% of those surveyed would like the ability to pick and choose channels for their own custom pay TV package. Digitalsmiths notes that this has declined nearly 3% from the same quarter a year ago — and down almost 5% from the first quarter.

The survey says that currently, 83% regularly watch between one and 10 channels, reports Medialife.

With regard to the key cord-cutting question, the survey says of the respondents who answered “I do not have a pay TV provider” -- 19.3% cut cable in the last 12 months. Of these, 45.1% use an antenna to access basic TV channels. There was an 11.8% quarter-over-quarter increase in those who use an over-the-air antenna to view TV.

Digitalsmiths' 3Q survey was drawn from 3,153 U.S. and Canadian consumers 18 years and older.