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A Stunning Number Of Americans No Longer Have Cable TV, Says Report

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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Around 25 percent of U.S. households won’t have a traditional TV subscription by the end of 2017 as newer streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video grow in popularity, according to estimates from an April report.

“We estimate 2016 saw a decline of 2.05 million US TV subscribers, 2015 saw a decline of 1.16 million, and forecast a decline of 2.11 million TV subscribers for 2017,” reads a report by The Convergence Research Group published in April. The study is titled The Battle for the American Couch Potato: Online & Traditional TV and Movie Distribution.

The researchers claim that 24.6 percent of American households won’t have a TV subscription at the conclusion of 2017, whether that is cable, satellite or through another telecommunication provider. The estimation, if ultimately accurate, would be an increase from 22.3 percent at the end of 2016. They also expect this trend (colloquially referred to as “cord-cutting”) to continue in more years to come.

Revenue for the more established cable industry is still expected to grow to $109.6 billion for 2017 compared to $107.3 billion in 2016, after an estimated uptick of roughly 3 percent from 2015 to 2016.

The rate of revenue growth, though, is not nearly as rapid as over-the-top (OTT) subscription video on demand services, like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV, and HBO Now. (RELATED: Hundreds Of Amazon Employees Infuriated About Breitbart Ads)

“We estimate US OTT access revenue (based on 47 OTT providers and led by Netflix) grew 32% to $8.3 billion in 2016 and forecast $11.2 billion for 2017 and $14.7 billion for 2018,” according to the study, which was confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation.

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