Media

15 Million American Households Have Cut the Cord on Pay TV

Thinkstock

One in six American households that pay for broadband internet access is no longer buying a multi-channel pay-TV package. They’re not buying from a cable company, a satellite company or even from a streaming service.

In a new report cited in Wednesday’s New York Post, researchers at SNL Kagan projected that the total number of U.S. broadband-only homes had reached 15.4 million. That’s more than all the households in California

The total number of 2016 cord-cutters rang in at 1.8 million. In the fourth quarter alone, 460,000 pay-TV customers dropped their subscriptions.

The data were reported earlier this month by SNL Kagan, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

By 2021, SNL Kagan expects the total number of U.S. households without pay-TV service to nearly double to 28 million. That’s about equal to the total number of households in California, New York and Texas.

And that may be an underestimate, according to SNL Kagan’s Tony Lenoir, who told the Post:

That forecast could end on the conservative side given the speed at which the TV ecosystem and the US broadband landscape are evolving.

Cable subscriber numbers dropped by 472,000 in 2016, the industry’s best result since 2007. More than 100,000 of those losses came in the fourth quarter. Direct-broadcast satellite shed 18,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, and the planned discontinuation of AT&T’s U-verse service led to a loss of 338,000 subscribers for the telcos.

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.