‘Cord Nevers’ Are Coming, New Study Finds

millennials

File under: Not surprising, but still crazy to think about.

By 2025, over half of the “under 32” demographic will have never had their own cable subscription, and are unlikely to ever sign up for one.

A new study by Forrester of 32,000 adults found that 24% of those surveyed don’t pay for cable, and 18% have never paid for cable at all. In other words, those who end up with a cable subscription often end up keeping it, with only 6% cancelling for any number of reasons (cost and service often being the main reasons).

But things got really interesting under Forrester’s analysis when they started looking 10 years into the future, finding that over half of those under 32 will likely NEVER subscribe for cable, meaning they never get hooked into the ecosystem that people often find difficult to cancel once they’re used to it.

cord never increase

What we’re interpreting from all of this is that it’s vastly important for major cable companies to push to get signups early and often from younger demographics. The problem is most of that age group leaves home with a digital login to their parent’s cable accounts, giving them online access to all the TV they want without ever having to sign up themselves.

This is a benefit for slimmed down services like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime, services that younger audiences are flocking to as they leave for college and beyond. It’s a lot easier for them to sign up on their own, not requiring bulky cable. When budgets are most important during those young-20s, the appeal of only paying $10-15 a month seems like a no-brainer, as opposed to forking over well beyond $50 a month for an only slight improvement to content offerings.

[image credit: GRM / hat tip: AdWeek]