Skip to main content

Screen Wars Thought Leader Interviews are also available on

SpotifyApple PodcastGoogle Podcast
State of the Screens

Is Cord Cutting Slowing Down?

By August 26, 2021No Comments

Cord Cutting

QoQ change in pay-TV subscribers:
1) Traditional pay-TV – ↓ 646K
2) Streaming pay-TV – ↑ 70K
3) Total pay-TV – ↓ 576K

Total pay-TV subscriptions (YoY growth):
1) 2019-Q2 – 91.0M
2) 2020-Q2 – 85.9M (↓ 5%)
3) 2021-Q2 – 82.5M (↓ 4%)

Total broadband subscriptions (YoY growth):
1) 2019-Q2 – 100.0M
2) 2020-Q2 – 103.4M (↑ 3%)
3) 2021-Q2 – 107.4M (↑ 4%)

Traditional pay-TV subscriptions (YoY growth):
1) 2019-Q2 – 82.8M
2) 2020-Q2- 76.0M (↓ 8%)
3) 2021-Q2 – 70.7M (↓ 7%)

US MVPD Subscriber Percentage Q2 Change vs Q2 2016

Streaming pay-TV subscriptions (YoY growth):
1) 2019-Q2 – 8.2M
2) 2020-Q2 – 9.9M (↑ 20%)
3) 2021-Q2 – 11.7M (↑ 18%)

Big question: What is the breakdown for how everyone accesses TV/video?

US TV households by distribution platform according to eMarketer:
1) Cable/satellite – 68%
2) Over-the-air – 13%
3) Broadband only – 10%
4) vMVPD – 8%

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.

Leave a Reply