EOTO Terms and Concepts

 Policy

Cord Cutting:

Cord cutting is when people get rid of their cable or stop paying for cable. Cable and satellite TV customers spend over $1,600 a year on channels they don’t watch which is up from around $1,000 in 2019. Since 2019, about 5 million people have cut the cord every year. These numbers have grown significantly over the years, with 700,000 cutting the cord in 2016, 1.5 million in 2017, and 2.9 million in 2018. This has created a significant loss of money for cable companies and people who work with cable.

 

"Last summer, for the first time, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime claimed the largest share of the television viewing audience, surpassing both cable and broadcast TV. Streaming captured 34.8 percent of July viewers, according to Nielsen data, compared to 34.4 percent for cable and 21.6 percent for broadcast." (De Vise, The Hill). Streaming services have finally passed cable and broadcast television. This statistic is a great example of creative destruction. 

Creative Destruction: 

“Creative destruction destroys the age-old methods bringing in scope for development and innovation.” Getting rid of cable is an example of creative destruction. It is getting rid of an old method to make room for all the streaming services that are now available.

“We’ve absolutely reached the tipping point,” said Dallas Lawrence, senior vice president of Samba TV. “Streaming is TV today, period. It is now the primary way that the majority of Americans consume television content.” (The Hill). Streaming has taken over all aspects of television. I know me and my family only use streaming services and my dad has talked about getting rid of cable TV completely. In college no one is paying for cable TV. Students only use streaming services that are usually still paid for by their parents or they log into friend's accounts. For my generation cable TV is basically completely done. 

Who Still Watches Cable?

Even though streaming sites have really taken over television, around 1/3 of Americans still pay for and watch TV on cable TV. This is mostly older people who have gotten used to how TV was. They don't want to try and figure out new TV programs. They like to watch their news and sports on cable TV still. But even sports and news has started moving over to streaming service platforms. "Reaching viewers on virtual television packages such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. Apple has pledged $2.5 billion to stream every Major League Soccer contest for a decade on its Apple TV platform." (The Hill). If all news and sports can be watched on streaming sites there may be no need for cable at all anymore.