Study: Sports Content Is ‘Best Antidote’ to Cord-Cutting

STAMFORD: A new survey by Frank N. Magid Associates finds that among consumers who have cut the cord within the last two years and express interest in returning to pay TV, two out of five (39 percent) say sports channels are a reason to return.

The firm also reports that nine out of ten (88 percent) sports fans say they watch sports on a television set, with broadcast networks (73 percent) as the most common medium, followed by cable sports networks (62 percent) and general entertainment networks (60 percent). A growing number of sports fans are watching sports on the internet: Nearly two of five (37 percent) of all sports fans say they watch sports streamed online "often," while nearly three in five (57 percent) say they watch sports online in any way at all.

These findings are from a recently completed study by Frank N. Magid Associates for ONE World Sports, America's Network for Global Sports. The survey was conducted during summer 2015 among 2,883 pay-TV and 317 broadband-only respondents across the U.S.

"Sports remains the most DVR-proof form of video content," said Alexander "Sandy" Brown, the president and CEO of ONE World Sports. "The excitement, immediacy and community around sports contests demand live viewing, whether that viewing takes place via an antenna, or a pay-TV provider, or via a live web stream. Whatever the format, the findings support that people want to watch sports live, and on the best—typically largest and most crisp—available screen."

Brown added, "The data about digital viewing is consistent with what we're seeing throughout the television and digital-video industries. Digital video providers, whether they're targeting their services for OTT delivery or mobile devices, are actively seeking sports content to feed their new services and attract consumers."