Report: 1 in 8 Consumers Will Cut Pay-TV Services This Year

BOSTON: The Yankee Group is predicting that one in eight consumers will cut their pay-TV services this year, opting instead to access content using their computers, gaming consoles or other connected devices.

The number of so-called "coax-cutters" is set to rise, the report notes, because of the increasing number of Internet-enabled consumer electronics, the continuing rise in pay-TV prices and the emergence of set-top-box-like gaming consoles like the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

"At the most basic level, the decision to cut off pay-TV services is an economic one," said Vince Vittore, principal analyst and co-author of the report, Consumers Consider Axing the Coax. "As programmers continue to demand ever higher fees, which inevitably get passed on to consumers, we believe more consumers will be forced to consider coax-cutting."

The report concludes that growth in the pay-TV market is slowing; from 2010 to 2013, Yankee Group predicts a 3.9-percent growth rate Western Europe and a 6.9-percent growth rate in the U.S. It also found that consumers who do cut their pay-TV subscriptions are more likely to be aged 18 to 34 and be heavy mobile users or gamers.