Do broadband-only households prove pay TV cord-cutting theory?

A new report from Leichtman Research Group should provide more fuel for the pay TV cord-cutting debate--not that it really needed it. Leichtman conducted a 1,500-household survey that suggests that about 8 percent of U.S. households have broadband Internet service but not pay TV service. One way to read that is that the a small but not insignificant group of households see online video options delivered via broadband as a suitable alternative to pay TV.

However, there could be many different possible reasons that group doesn't have pay TV, and even Leichtman acknowledges it's "erroneous" to believe they are making decision driven by online video as a suitable pay TV replacement.

Cable TV companies have suggested subscriber losses are cost-driven decisions during a tough economic period. That is another position that could be partly valid, though not a complete explanation for subscriber declines. The discrepancy between broadband-only households and those with pay TV can't be simply explained by just one assumption about consumer behavior.

For more:
- here's the Leichtman press release

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