Cord cutting has changed how Americans receive and pay for television. Survey data, provider estimates and TV-screen measurement show declining traditional pay-TV use, growing streaming reach, and a market where lower service costs can still be followed by rising subscriptions.
Key Cord Cutting Statistics
These are the most useful headline figures across the available U.S. research:
- In 2021, 56% of U.S. adults watched television through cable or satellite, compared with 76% in 2015.
- In January-February 2021, 27% of U.S. adults were cord cutters, defined as former cable or satellite subscribers who no longer subscribed.
- In 2021, 17% of U.S. adults had never subscribed to cable or satellite television.
- Among U.S. adults without cable or satellite in January-February 2021, 61% had subscribed in the past.
- Major U.S. pay-TV providers lost about 5.035 million net video subscribers in 2023.
- Major U.S. pay-TV providers had about 71.3 million subscribers at the end of 2023, down from 91.5 million at the end of 2018.
- Among U.S. adults ages 18-29, 34% received television through cable or satellite in 2021.
- Among U.S. cable-or-satellite nonsubscribers in 2021, 71% said they could access wanted content online.
- Among U.S. cable-or-satellite nonsubscribers in 2021, 69% said cable or satellite cost too much.
- In Deloitte’s 2025 U.S. survey, 49% of consumers had a cable or satellite subscription, compared with 63% three years earlier.
- In Deloitte’s 2025 U.S. survey, live-streaming TV subscribers spent 35% less per month on average than cable or satellite subscribers.
- Top U.S. vMVPD services added about 1.895 million net subscribers in 2023.
- YouTube TV had an estimated 7.9 million U.S. subscribers at the end of 2023.
- Cable or satellite subscribers in Deloitte’s 2025 U.S. survey reported $125 in average monthly spending.
- Surveyed U.S. subscribers reported $69 per month for four paid streaming services combined in 2025.
- In Nielsen’s July 2024 Gauge, streaming represented 41.4% of U.S. TV-screen viewing.
- In July 2024, YouTube represented 10.4% of U.S. TV usage measured through television screens.
- Charter ended 2024 with 12.9 million total video customers in the United States.
Contents
- The scale of pay-TV decline
- Age and household cord cutting trends
- Why Americans cut the cord
- Streaming replacement services
- Cord cutting costs and subscription value
- Viewing shares and distributor effects
Cord Cutting Statistics: The Scale of Pay-TV Decline
Pew Research Center measured reported cable-or-satellite use among U.S. adults rather than provider billing records. The share fell from 76% in 2015 to 56% in 2021, a 20-percentage-point change across the survey waves.
In Pew’s January 25-February 8, 2021 survey of 1,502 U.S. adults, 27% were cord cutters because they had previously subscribed to cable or satellite and no longer did. Another 17% had never had a cable or satellite subscription, while among current nonsubscribers, 61% had subscribed previously and 39% had never subscribed.
Leichtman Research Group’s provider estimates show the same broad direction at the distributor level. The largest U.S. pay-TV providers, covering about 96% of the market, lost about 5.035 million net video subscribers in 2023, compared with a pro forma loss of about 4.590 million in 2022.
| Pay-TV measure | Result | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Major provider subscribers | 71.3 million | End of 2023, United States |
| Major provider subscribers | 91.5 million | End of 2018, United States |
| Top seven cable companies | 34.1 million | End of 2023 |
| Other traditional pay-TV services | 21.0 million | End of 2023 |
| Internet-delivered vMVPD services | 16.2 million | End of 2023 |
These LRG figures are estimates, not a complete all-market household census. Company counts may include non-residential subscribers, and pro forma provider-list and reporting changes limit direct comparisons across releases.
Source: Leichtman Research Group, “Major Pay-TV Providers Lost About 5,000,000 Subscribers in 2023.”
Cable and Satellite Cord Cutting Trends by Age
Cord cutting was most pronounced among younger adults in Pew’s 2015 and 2021 comparisons. In 2021, just 34% of adults ages 18-29 received television through cable or satellite, 31 percentage points below the group’s 2015 rate.
Adults ages 30-49 had a 2021 cable-or-satellite rate of 46%, down 27 percentage points from 2015. Adults ages 50-64 experienced a 14-point decline over the same period, while adults 65 and older saw a 5-point decline that Pew said was not statistically significant.
| U.S. adult group | 2021 cable/satellite measure | Change from 2015 to 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 18-29 | 34% received TV this way | Down 31 percentage points |
| Ages 30-49 | 46% received TV this way | Down 27 percentage points |
| Ages 50-64 | Not stated in supplied measure | Down 14 percentage points |
| Ages 65+ | Not stated in supplied measure | Down 5 percentage points; not statistically significant |
Among 18-29 nonsubscribers in 2021, 61% said they had never previously received cable or satellite TV, and about 53% said they did not often watch television. The comparable figures were 47% for nonsubscribers ages 30-49 and about one-third for nonsubscribers age 50 and older.
These are self-reported survey measures and reasons, not provider churn rates or viewing-diary results.
Why Americans Cut the Cord: Online Access, Cost and Viewing Habits
Pew’s 2021 survey points to both substitution and reduced demand. Among U.S. cable-or-satellite nonsubscribers, 71% said they could access the content they wanted online, while 69% said cable and satellite services cost too much and 45% said they did not often watch television.
Age differences were visible in the reasons respondents gave:
- Among nonsubscribers ages 18-29, 91% said online access to wanted content was a reason they did not subscribe.
- About 53% of 18-29 nonsubscribers said they did not often watch television.
- About 72% of nonsubscribers ages 30-49 said cable or satellite was too expensive.
- About 57% of nonsubscribers ages 18-29 said cable or satellite was too expensive.
- Nearly eight-in-ten nonsubscribers age 50 and older said cable or satellite was too expensive.
Multiple reasons could apply, and the findings describe perceptions and reported behavior rather than an independently verified test of content availability or household bills.
Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends survey indicates that pay-TV remains present but less common. 49% of surveyed U.S. consumers had a cable or satellite subscription in 2025, compared with 63% three years earlier.
Among surveyed cable subscribers, 23% of Gen Z, 18% of millennials and 8% of boomers intended to terminate service within 12 months. These are cancellation intentions, not completed cancellations.
Source: Deloitte, “2025 Digital Media Trends.”
Streaming Adoption and Replacement Services in Cord Cutting Data
Streaming can replace traditional pay-TV, but the available measures describe several different products. Deloitte reported that live-streaming TV services were used by around 40% of households in its survey, with growth stagnant for two years, while live-streaming TV subscribers spent 35% less per month on average than cable or satellite subscribers.
Leichtman’s 2023 estimates show growth among top virtual multichannel video programming distributors, or vMVPDs. The group added about 1.895 million net subscribers in 2023, reaching an estimated 16.2 million subscribers at year-end.
| Service | Estimated subscribers at end of 2023 | 2023 net change |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube TV | 7.900 million | Not stated |
| Hulu + Live TV | 4.600 million | Not stated |
| Sling TV | 2.055 million | Down 279,000 |
| Fubo | 1.618 million | Up 173,000 |
YouTube TV’s figure is an LRG revised estimate; YouTube publicly said it had more than 8 million. Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and Fubo figures are provider tallies in the LRG release, and the vMVPD category is separate from traditional pay-TV services.
Source: Leichtman Research Group, “Major Pay-TV Providers Lost About 5,000,000 Subscribers in 2023.”
Source: Deloitte, “2025 Digital Media Trends.”
Cord Cutting Costs, Churn and Subscription Value
Deloitte’s 2025 survey puts reported average cable or satellite spending at $125 per month among surveyed U.S. subscribers. The same survey reported $69 per month for four paid streaming services combined, while average paid SVOD spending rose from $61 to $69 in one year, a reported 13% increase.
The figures are self-reported averages, so they should not be treated as a standardized bill audit. Deloitte also reported a 20% year-over-year increase in average paid SVOD spending among Gen Z and millennials.
| Cost or value measure | Reported result | Population or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Cable or satellite spending | $125 per month | Surveyed U.S. subscribers, 2025 |
| Four paid streaming services | $69 per month | Surveyed U.S. SVOD subscribers, 2025 |
| Prior-year paid SVOD spending | $61 per month | Surveyed U.S. SVOD subscribers |
| Average premium ad-free SVOD price | Around $16 per month | SVOD market referenced by Deloitte |
| Favorite ad-free SVOD “right” price | $14 per month | Surveyed consumers |
| Favorite ad-free SVOD “too expensive” price | $25 per month | Surveyed consumers |
Price sensitivity was also substantial: 60% of respondents said a $5 increase would make them likely to cancel their favorite SVOD service. That is a hypothetical cancellation intention, not observed churn.
Source: Deloitte, “2025 Digital Media Trends.”
How Cord Cutting Is Reshaping TV Viewing and Distributors
Nielsen’s Gauge measures viewing through a television screen, not all viewing on every device, and reports monthly category shares rather than household subscription counts. In the July 1-28, 2024 Gauge, streaming accounted for 41.4% of U.S. TV viewing, its largest recorded share there at that time.
| Nielsen TV-screen measure | July 2024 result | April 2024 result where supplied |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming | 41.4% | 38.4% |
| Broadcast | 20.3% | Not stated |
| Cable | 26.7% | Not stated |
| YouTube | 10.4% of TV usage | Not stated |
| Amazon Prime Video | 3.4% of TV usage | Not stated |
| Peacock | 1.5% of TV usage | Not stated |
Total TV usage rose 2.3% from June to July 2024 and 3.5% from July 2023, with seasonal and Olympic effects present in the measurement month. YouTube’s share rose 7% month over month, Amazon Prime Video’s rose 12%, and Peacock’s rose 33%; Nielsen noted Olympics and Love Island USA influenced Peacock’s month.
In Nielsen’s April 2024 Media Distributor Gauge, Disney accounted for 11.5% of TV viewing when services were aggregated by parent company. Streaming represented 38.4% of total television, down 0.1 percentage point from March.
Traditional distributors continue to report customer and revenue pressure. Charter ended December 31, 2024 with 12.9 million total video customers, including a 123,000-customer decline in the fourth quarter; its video revenue for the three months ended December 31 was $3.616 billion, down 7.4% year over year.
Charter’s figures are company-reported customer and financial metrics, not an industry-wide measure of cord-cutting spending or unique households.
Source: Charter, “Charter Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results.”