Cord Cutting

What Is It?

Cord Cutting refers to the cancelling of satellite or cable television in favor of streaming services or other Internet media, for example: Youtube, Netflix, Disney Plus, etc. With every passing year, cord cutting becomes more frequent; at least a million people cancelled their cable or satellite tv in the past year. People, especially those who are younger, are moving over to watch shows on streaming services off of a smart tv or other device. Since younger generations are watching more tv off of streaming services, there are parents who would rather switch to watching shows off streaming services if there kids aren't going to watch cable or satellite television.

 

The Benefits

Cord cutting is beneficial for households that don't have the money for cable and satellite tv since the subscription to a streaming service is usually cheaper. Not only is it more affordable but streaming also allows viewers to watch whatever show they're interested in on any of their devices with internet. Streaming allows for users to watch any episode of the shows available at any time unlike cable or satellite tv that only allows you to watch an episode of a show when it airs or if you decide to record it beforehand. Streaming services also allow for users to watch shows anywhere because they can be put on to mobile devices and watched at anytime. This feature specifically made it so easy for people to share their streaming service accounts to save money with friends that Netflix had to just enact a new rule that stated that any device that is logged into an account must visit the "home" location at least once a month to renew account validity.

Some Drawbacks

One of the drawbacks however of streaming services is their lack of news accessibility. Since most streaming services don't have included live television, it is hard for those who only use streaming services to get information on their regional news. For those who do want to still experience part live television to see the news on streaming services, they usually need to pay an extra fee or provide their cable/satellite tv provider (which means they're not cord cutting). Another drawback has been the competitions held between cable and satellite tv against different streaming services. One recent example of this is Disney Vs Spectrum that saw Disney blocking 15 million of Spectrum's users from watching ESPN or ABC. Disney ended up making a deal with Spectrum to allow the users to be able to watch those channels as part of a package deal with ESPN+ and Disney+.

What Our Future Might Be

For the foreseeable future, this means that cable and satellite tv could be dead within a couple of years. In order to keep making the same revenue, cable/satellite tv has starting adding more commercials in between shows. Ultimately this has caused even more cord cutting than there was before because people don't have the attention spans anymore to wait for their favorite show in-between advertisements. Currently, live event broadcasting is one of the only things keeping cable and satellite television alive as the recent Super Bowl was still watched by 90% on live tv.