Look Around you, it’s Happening Everywhere
There’s something happening here.
For what it’s worth, it’s become crystal clear. Traditional cable TV is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Numbers don’t lie, so let’s look at the first quarter results reported by some of the largest cable tv companies in the nation. These results reflect the number of traditional TV subscribers each company lost and are just for the first quarter of 2025:
- Comcast / Xfinity lost 427,000
- Charter / Spectrum lost 118,000
- Verizon lost 58,000
- Altice (Cablevision) lost 37,000
If you do some quick math here, you’ll see that in these four companies alone, 640,000 households cut the cord in just the first three months of 2025. In just 90 days, that equates to more than 7,100 subscribers per day, every day. While these numbers are staggering, they are not sudden, as more than 20 million people have cut the cord in the past three years.
I’ve said this before, but it comes down to the three ‘C’s. People are dropping cable TV in favor of streaming services for cost, convenience and control. We can add a fourth C in the mix, that being content. There is a huge amount of content out there in the streaming world you just can’t get on traditional cable TV.
Cost is a major factor.
Traditional cable packages are expensive, with monthly bills exceeding $100, even before adding equipment or premium channels. In contrast, most streaming services cost between $10 and $20 per month. Even subscribing to multiple platforms can be cheaper than a single cable package, plus you only pay for what you actually use. This is as close to a la cart as we have ever been.
Convenience, when compared to traditional cable TV is unmatched.
With streaming, viewers can watch what they want, when they want, without being tied to a schedule. Gone are the days of waiting for a specific time slot or sitting through commercials. Platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ offer on-demand viewing with minimal interruptions, often across multiple devices—from smart TVs and laptops to tablets and phones.
Control is king.
While we have little control over our cable TV, we can control the streaming platforms with flexibility we’ve never had with cable TV. Build your own entertainment lineup, pause or cancel subscriptions easily and avoid long-term contracts and hidden fees. Think about it. Subscribe to a service like NETFLIX, watch all you want, then pause it and move over to, let’s say, Apple TV+ because your friend told you about a great series to watch on that platform. How is this possible? Pick up a gift card from Hulu, NETFLIX or one of the other services at your local supermarket or chain drug store. Doing this and using the gift card as payment will not lock you into the monthly payment hitting your credit or debit card.
For our fourth and final ‘C,’ I give you content.
More content including movies, TV series, documentaries and more, from all spans of time over the last 100 years, are available across the wide number of streaming choices. Endless choices.
Want to learn more? Visit the streaming marketplace on our website.
