More than half of US TV watchers are cordless, according to report

More than half of the country’s adults have cut the cord, or never had a cord to cut in the first place, according to a new report from the Video Advertising Bureau.

In the report: In 2022, cordless viewers, defined as people who have either never signed up for a paid, traditional television service or have canceled that service, made up about 49% of all US adults. As of March this year, though, that figure is up to 54%.

Streaming, unsurprisingly, is also growing, accounting for a 38% share of monthly time spent watching television, compared to broadcast and cable’s 51%. That streaming share is up six percentage points from 2022, when it was 32%; broadcast and cable viewership comprised 58% of share that year.

• More than 75% of streaming audiences use at least one ad-supported streaming service. That’s not altogether that surprising, considering the wave of ad-supported platforms that have recently debuted, including Amazon Prime Video’s ad-supported tier.
• Another 73% said they’ve watched free ad-supported streaming TV or FAST channels, including free streamers like Pluto TV, Tubi, and Roku. That figure was 53% in 2022.

The finding jibe with other recent reports that indicate an acceptance of ad-supported streaming, as well as the fact that many ad-free tiers are getting more expensive.

Zoom out: Advertisers probably didn’t need these statistics alone to know which way the wind is blowing. A recent Magna forecast expects streaming ad sales to reach $10 billion this year, about a quarter of total national TV sales. Of course, some of the recipients of those dollars will be traditional players that also operating streaming services, like Paramount and Disney.