Cord Cutting Trend Cable Execs Once Called A Fad Keeps Breaking Records

The cable and broadband industry spent the better part of a decade pretending that “cord cutting” (ditching traditional television in favor for streaming or antenna-based alternatives) either didn’t actually exist or was a fad that would end when Millennials started procreating.

Now, they like to pretend they saw the trend coming all along. With most of them still not competently adapting to shifting consumer demands.

The latest data from both Leichtman research and SambiaTV shows that 5.9 million Americans canceled cable TV in 2022, the equivalent of 16,000 American residents canceling cable TV every single day. Most are going to streaming, some are going to over the air antennas, and many are just getting bored with television entirely and spending more time on TikTok or YouTube.

While cord cutting storms forth, the cable industry has responded with some modest adaptation, but simply can’t help jacking up prices even further via an assortment of obnoxious and sneaky fees, accelerating the trend even further:

With the growth of fees and cable TV bills, it is easy to understand why. Recently it was announced that Comcast would be raising the fees on a wide range of plans. Comcast’s Xfinity Broadcast TV Fee is going up 11% this year to $21.30. Back in 2016, these fees were just $5 a month. 

RSN fees are also going up in Philadelphia to $13.35 a month, a 5% jump. This is up from just $3 a month back in 2016. 

Traditional cable TV is an unsustainable mess and has been for a long while.

As Cord Cutter News notes, there were 95.2 million Americans who paid for a pay-tv subscription in 20212. Even including live TV streaming services that number has dropped to 70.2 million in 2023. And while some cable execs tried to claim the trend was supposed to slow down dramatically by now, that’s not only not the case, it’s been accelerating in part due to their continued bad decisions.