Pace of Cord Cutting Slowing Down?

A recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the pace of cord-cutting may be slowing down. According to a survey of 1200 consumers PwC found that 84% expected to subscribe to cable TV in the coming year compared to 70% in the same survey last year.

The survey also continued another interesting tidbit. A majority (51%) of cord-trimmers are now reporting they are paying more for their TV bundle.

We own several media companies: Time Warner (TWX), Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA), Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI), and a small position in Viacom (VIAB). We think PwC’s survey bolsters our thesis that streaming services are not a complete substitute for traditional cable bundles and that the pace of cord cutting will be very slow. Additionally we think that the old media companies will be able to eventually monetize streaming and mobile video as well as they have traditional cable TV.

There are certainly risks. For example the PwC survey showed that the younger generation primarily consumes video through mobile devices so old media companies will need to adapt to new distribution and new video format paradigms.

All in all it’s an interesting survey that seems to show that cable TV is far from dead.