Cord-cutting accelerates in the US
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Michelle Clancy
| 29 January 2019

Netflix spent $13 billion on content in 2018, Amazon spent $5 billion, and Hulu gave subscribers access to $30 billion worth of content: these investments are starting to pay off with research showing that a surge in cord-cutting is well and truly underway.

A survey of 5000 Americans by the Waterstone Group’s has indicated that 59% of Americans have cut the cord, while another 29% are thinking about it. That leaves just 12% of Americans who are committed to staying with their traditional cable packages.

As part of the survey, Waterstone also looked at state-level data, to see which parts of America are most aligned with the cord-cutting trend. The percentage of cord-cutters is highest in Idaho (72%) and lowest in New Jersey (just 36%).

It’s clear that an epic battle could be shaping between cable TV companies and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon; traditional players will have to find new differentiation to keep their bases.