Nearly Half Of Internet Users No Longer Use Linear TV

Even as the U.S. approaches the tipping point in which half of households no longer subscribe to linear TV services, new research released this morning finds that nearly half of internet users worldwide already have abandoned it altogether.

MediaPost reports the findings, which are self-reported, are based on interviews with 54,000 internet users across 28 countries conducted by Ampere Analysis, which estimates that 45% no longer watch linear TV of any kind.

That's more than double the 22% who said they had given up linear TV two years ago.

The bright side, of course, is that most of those internet users have simply shifted one distribution platform (broadcast or subscription television services) for another (streaming, OTT, CTV, VOD services).

The analysis doesn't address what, if any, of the shift is due to internet users abandoning TV-ish programming altogether, in favor of other options: short-form user-generated video, social media apps, games, etc., but it's clear that we are approaching a period in which the majority of consumers worldwide are nonlinear in their use of media overall.