On the heels of many pay-TV providers and other video services’ quarterly reports proving cord-cutting and cord-thinning is happening, Digitalsmiths’ reveals an equally important trend called cord-cheating.
According to the latest Q2 Video Discovery Trends Report from Digitalsmiths, this cord-cheating phenomenon refers to the growing trend by consumers to seek on-demand content from third-party video services and OTT services, as an alternative to their pay-TV provider’s on-demand offerings. These third-party video services include Netflix, Redbox Kiosk, Hulu and more.
Digitalsmiths feels this is an enormous threat, and one that speaks to the need for consumer-facing improvements. Based on Digitalsmiths Q2 survey of over 1,850 consumers, cord-cheating isn’t the only threat Pay-TV providers need to be worried about. The survey results also shed light on key industry topics around consumers’ TV viewing habits, their perception of pay-TV providers, and opinions of next-gen features such as personalized video discovery.
The results prove the competition facing Pay-TV providers is coming from all angles now. Of survey respondents: 68% of smart phone and tablet owners have not downloaded their Pay-TV provider’s app; 35% have a subscription to a OTT service; 22.1% regularly use a third-party pay-per-rental service and 73.8% never purchase from their pay-TV provider’s VOD catalogue.
