More Customers Cutting CableTV Cord

The number of pay-TV defectors is steadily rising: About 6.5 percent of households nationwide have cut the cord, up slightly from 4.5 percent in 2010, according to research by Experian Marketing Services. Amber Hunt at The Cincinnati Enquirer reports nearly one-fifth of Americans who have working Netflix or Hulu Plus accounts don't subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service.

Michael Greeson, co-founder and director of research for the Diffusion Group, has been tracking cord-cutting trends since 2007. For the past several years, his surveys have consistently shown that about 15 percent of adult broadband users who subscribe to a pay-TV service are considering ditching it within the next six months.

That more people aren't jumping ship is likely thanks to cable operators' aggressively working to keep subscribers when they call to cancel. They're offering quiet deals that their websites don't advertise in hopes of at least converting a would-be cord cutter into what's called a "cord shaver" — someone who scales down his or her service but doesn't bail on cable entirely.

Still, a prediction Greeson made in 2012 is on track to prove true: The number of U.S. broadband subscribers is poised to exceed the number of pay-TV subscribers by mid-2015. Meanwhile, the number of Netflix subscribers is growing, having passed the 50 million mark last month.

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