Pay TV-Only Households Down To 14%

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 60% of U.S. TV households have both a pay-TV service and at least one SVOD service. In addition, 20% of TV households have an SVOD service but not pay-TV, 14% only have a pay-TV service, and 6% have neither pay-TV nor SVOD.

Among traditional (cable, satellite or Telco) pay-TV subscribers, 79% have an SVOD service, and 96% of those getting live pay-TV from an Internet-delivered vMVPD also have an SVOD service. Comparatively, 76% of pay-TV non-subscribers have an SVOD service.

These findings are based on a telephone survey of about 2,000 households from throughout the United States, and are part of a new LRG study, Pay-TV in the U.S. 2020. This is LRG’s eighteenth annual study on this topic.

Other related findings include:

• 74% of TV households in the U.S. get a live pay-TV service (via a cable, DBS, Telco, or Internet-delivered vMVPD) – compared to 85% in 2015, 88% in 2010, and 82% in 2005
• 81% of adults ages 55+ have a pay-TV service – compared to 76% of ages 35-54, and 63% of ages 18-34
• 27% with both pay-TV and SVOD are ages 18-34 – compared to 46% with SVOD-only
• 38% of those that moved in the past year do not currently get a pay-TV service – a higher level than in any previous year
• 33% of pay-TV non-subscribers last had a pay-TV service within the past 3 years, 34% last subscribed >3 years ago, and 33% never had a live pay-TV service
• 13% of all TV households are pay-TV non-subscribers with a TV antenna

“Traditional pay-TV services from cable, satellite, and Telco providers are now in less than two-thirds of U.S households, while an increasing number of households are opting to get live pay-TV from Internet-delivered vMVPD services,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Consumers continue to choose the video services that best fit their households’ needs. For 60% of households, this includes both pay-TV and SVOD services.”