Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Go and more video streaming services are slowly making cable TV obsolete, and new numbers reflect the growing number of people cutting the cord.
High-speed Internet or broadband subscribers have outnumbered cable TV subscriptions for the first time in history, according to statistics accumulated by Leichtman Research Group. Broadband tallied 49.915 million subscribers while cable TV fell behind with 49.910 million.
The top cable and telephone providers split the broadband subscriptions about 60 to 40 percent. Cable companies carry 50.7 million subscribers and telephone companies have 35.2 million.
"With the addition of more than 30 million broadband subscribers over the past decade, cable providers have clearly expanded well beyond their roots in cable TV service," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman. "As of the end of [second quarter] 2014, the top cable providers now have more broadband subscribers than cable TV subscribers."
Netflix has made deals with the top cable and telephone companies to guarantee its users don't have any problems streaming their favorite movies and TV shows. The No. 1 streaming-video service agreed to pay Time Warner Cable for guaranteed bandwidth after inking similar deals with Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, according to Variety. The four broadband providers represent about 68 percent of all high-speed Internet subscribers in the U.S.
Cable channels have registered a dip in their viewership stats, but not in their profits. Only one of the top 10 cable channels, ESPN, will expect a decline this year based on cash flow, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which said the sports programming giant's profits will only drop less than one percent.
Higher subscription fees and ad rates have kept revenue up for cable networks despite bleeding viewers. Foreign expansion has also helped keep profits in the black. The lagging viewership numbers also may be due to Nielsen Ratings not accounting for new platforms like mobile devices. Nielsen won't account for those numbers until this fall.
"When you look across platforms, viewership is very rich," EY analyst Peri Shamsai told The Hollywood Reporter. "Younger viewers are watching shows on mobile devices, and that measurement information is certainly not coming through yet."
