Study: 25% of Canadian Pay-TV Households Potential Cord-Cutters

8 Jun, 2017 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Canada’s was Netflix first international expansion, underscoring new data from J.D. Power that claims 25% of Canadian pay-TV subscribers are considered potential cord-cutters, or viewers who stop subscribing to cable television services.

Two by Power found 27% of subs are either unsure or plan to drop (19% and 8%, respectively) their pay-TV service within the next 12 months, while 73% said they plan to keep their service. Younger subs appear more at risk of canceling, with 14% between ages 18-34 saying they planned to cut the cord in the next 12 months, compared with 3% among subs over 65 years old.

The survey found more than half (53%) of subs have used an alternative video service in the past year, up from 49% in 2016 and 42% in 2015. Among subs that have tried alternative video services, Netflix is by far the most widely used (73%).

Survey respondents also rated their alternative video service higher than their pay-TV service for overall experience (7.58 vs. 7.04 on a 10-point scale). This was driven primarily by higher ratings for overall cost savings (7.84 vs. 5.97).

Satisfaction with SVOD is highest when users have fast streaming speeds (500 Mbps or higher). When asked to rate alternative video services on a scale of 1-10 for ease of use, respondents gave Netflix a rating of 8.11 vs. the average of 7.91.

“The biggest concern for the cable industry should be the highly favorable customer satisfaction scores that alternative video services are receiving relative to traditional pay-TV. The availability of faster network speeds stands to further fuel this shift in viewing preferences,” said Adrian Chung, director at J.D. Power.

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