MTM reports uptick in cable cutting

In a survey among Anglophones, 73% said they were paying for cable, satellite or fibre optic – down from 78% last year.

The number of Anglophone Canadians who paid for some form of TV subscription declined again last year, according to new data from Media Technology Monitor (MTM).

In a survey of more than 4,100 English-speaking Canadians conducted between September and December 2017, 73% said they paid for cable, satellite or fiber optic television in 2017. That’s down from 78% in 2016.

That decline is somewhat sharper than those of previous years. Since 2011, MTM has reported declines in the number of paid TV subscribers between one and four percentage points annually.

Of those who have done away with paid TV packages, more than half have moved to online services to get their fix: 14% of Anglophones are using VOD or OTT services, a method MTM refers to as “TV My Way.”

Of TV My Way adopters, 25% say they have never had a paid TV subscription.

Another 7% of respondents are watching television via over-the-air antenna signals, and 6% say that they’ve tuned out of TV content entirely.

When MTM reported its findings at this time last year, the number of satellite cable users had grown to 17% from an all-time low of 16% in 2016. However, its latest study shows only 15% of Anglophones report using satellite.