Cord cutting is more of an international phenomenon than one plaguing the U.S., and even there it will only have minimal impact on the pay TV market. However, it will grow over time as "OTT services will continue to improve and become increasingly attractive," according to an analysis by Informa Telecoms & Media.
The report said that only 36 percent, or 426,000, cord-cutters were U.S.-based in 2010. This is a relatively small number in relation to the number of pay TV subscribers but significant, nonetheless. Internationally, it's a bigger deal.
"We are already seeing significant numbers of cord-cutters in China, as households are attracted away from cable and IPTV by OTT services (that) contain a fair proportion of pirate content (but) also have some legitimate carriage deals," said Adam Thomas, a senior Informa analyst. In China, he said, "OTT is emerging as a fully-fledged alternative to the traditional platforms."
Even with all this cord-cutting going on, Informa concluded "there is no suggestion of the global meltdown of pay TV subscribers and business models suggested by the more vociferous proponents of OTT."
For more:
- see this news release
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