Pay TV industry experiencing ‘slow crisis’, says Parks Associates

Brett Sappington

The pay TV industry is experiencing a “slow crisis in terms of paying customers,” with 7% of US broadband households with a pay TV service planning to cancel their TV subscription, according to Parks Associates. 

The ‘Under Attack: Assessing New Threats to Pay TV’ report claims that the biggest reason cited by US broadband households for considering cancelling their pay TV service was cost.

The number one reason given was “my current service isn’t worth the monthly cost,” followed by “I like my current service but can’t afford it” and “there’s not much on TV I want to watch.”

“Content is key to attracting and retaining consumers, and consumers are now looking beyond pay TV for that content,” said Brett Sappington, director of research, Parks Associates.

“The new deal between Apple and HBO to stream the HBO Now streaming service to Apple devices is just the latest example. At the same time, companies like Google and Amazon are getting into the content creation business, providing a new competitive threat to the traditional ecosystem.”

Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates added: “For consumers, the lines are blurring between CE makers, operators, and content providers, so they will make their decisions, first and foremost, based on who has the desired content and secondly on who provides the easiest method to find and consume that content.”