Percentage of US pay-TV subscriber households continues to fall
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| 01 November 2018

A Leichtman Research Group study has found that about 78% of TV households in the US subscribe to some form of pay-TV service, marking an eight-percentage point drop over the last five years.

LRG’s sixteenth annual investigation of the topic found that this current adoption rate compares with 86% in 2013, 87% in 2008, and 81% in 2004, and LRG found that currently in US TV households, 70% of adults ages 18-44 and 84% of ages 45+ subscribe to a pay-TV service. Comparatively, in 2013, 83% of adults aged 18–44 and 88% of those aged over 45+ had a pay-TV service. About 7% of TV households last subscribed to a pay-TV service in the past three years, 7% last subscribed to a pay-TV service over three years ago, and about 8% have never subscribed to a pay-TV service.

Overall, the mean reported monthly spending on pay-TV services among subscribers is about $107, an increase of 1% in the past year. Just over a quarter (27%) of TV households with annual incomes less than $50,000 do not subscribe to a pay-TV service, compared with 20% with annual incomes above this level.
Nearly a third of those that moved house in the past year do not currently subscribe to a pay-TV service — a higher level than in previous years — while 44% using one TV at home are non-subscribers. This compares with 23% using two TVs, and 12% using three or more TVs.

“About 78% of households that use a TV currently subscribe to a pay-TV service, yet pay-TV subscriptions are not consistent across demographic group,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, looking at trends revealed in the survey. “The penetration of pay-TV among younger individuals and related groups, including renters, singles, and movers, has declined at a faster pace in recent years, expanding demographic divides in pay-TV.”