Somewhere in the ballpark of 100,000 Canadian households are estimated to have cut the cord in the past year, choosing to drop their paid TV package in favour of free over-the-air signals or the growing collections of streaming content online.
A similar number is projected to follow suit in 2012, but those in the TV business aren’t too concerned about those figures.
If you ask Canada’s largest broadcasters, they’ll universally tell you the so-called cord cutting phenomenon is far from their biggest worry. They don’t deny that cord cutters exist, and in fact, most say they know at least a few personally. CBC’s vice-president of English services Kirstine Stewart said her own sister no longer has cable.
But they just don’t believe we’re on the cusp of a shakeup that will forever change how Canadians view TV.
“There’s certainly a lot of buzz out there that makes it feel like some sort of tipping point has occurred (but) I think (that’s) probably two to three years out – plus,” said Kris Faibish, executive director of strategy and business development for the CBC’s English services.
“But you can see some interesting things beginning to happen.”
Lots of Canadians have indeed cut the cord but when you take a look at the overall picture, they still represent just a tiny fraction of TV subscriber numbers, which are still growing, said Brahm Eiley of The Convergence Consulting Group.
“Everybody has a cousin or a friend who’s a cord cutter but it’s basically statistically insignificant,” said Eiley.
“No one should have a heart attack – but it is definitely there.”
In the fall, Eiley estimated that of the 11.7 million TV subscribers in the country less than 1% were bound to cut the cord by year’s end, while a similar percentage was expected next year. Cord cutting has been going on for years in the U.S., but the trend has been very slow to catch on – even with much better online options to view content, including Hulu, a larger selection on Netflix, and better prices to get or rent TV shows and movies through iTunes.
“The fact is it took the U.S. four years to get to 2% and the pace will be slow here as well,” Eiley said. “In Canada, there really hasn’t been any evidence of cord cutting, this will probably be the first year that it’ll register statistically.”
