Cable companies migrating their business from video to broadband connectivity take note: A new report from Pew Research suggests a big chunk of consumers ditching their pay-TV service don't pay for residential broadband either.
The research company's new Home Broadband 2015 report found that 42 percent of "cord cutters" use wireless data plans to watch video and don't have residential broadband. In fact, Pew found that 13 percent of American telecom consumers surveyed only subscribed to wireless, up from 8 percent in 2013.
Overall, Pew found that 33 percent of U.S. adults don't have residential broadband. Among that group, 36 percent said they've had such services in the past, but have cut that cord as well.
The fact that more than four out of 10 cord cutters are not migrating to cable broadband connectivity is an issue for companies like Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) and Cable One, which have overtly pegged this transition as underpinning their business models.
But it's also a problem for companies like Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), which are attempting to migrate their video products to their managed IP networks.
Of 6,687 Americans 18 and older surveyed, 15 percent said they have ditched pay-TV services. Nine percent said they've never had a cable, satellite or telco-based video subscription.
Of those who have had pay-TV services in the past, 40 percent say they are interested in re-acquiring them in the future, but are sensitive to price.
For more:
- read this Pew Research report
- read this Washington Post story
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