The pay-TV industry lost more than a million subscribers last year, four times the number that skedaddled a year earlier, according to market researcher SNL Kagan.
Cord cutting is having a clear impact on the industry — and that can only be good for consumers who have grown sick of paying for dozens, even hundreds, of channels they never watch.
Readers have asked for updates about my experience since I cut the pay-TV cord in January, slashing my monthly Time Warner Cable bill in half (I still receive broadband Internet and home-phone service from the company).
I can say without reservation that the experience has been a good one. Although I've said adios to two channels that used to be part of my regular viewing diet — CNN and AMC — I've found life goes on:
I still get plenty of news without CNN and, surprisingly, I didn't mourn the loss of "The Walking Dead."
Roku is an excellent way to access streaming video on my TV. I have more than enough viewing options with a stand-alone, $15-a-month subscription to HBO and with Amazon Prime, which I already had for the free two-day shipping.
With TV now an on-demand experience, I watch what I want when I want. The few times I've surfed the networks and local channels using my HD antenna, I grew so tired of commercials that I turned off the set.
As a result, I'm reading more.
Convergence Consulting Group predicted last week that by December about 27 million U.S. households will have abandoned pay-TV services.
"Consumers have more options than ever," said Bruce Leichtman, president of the media consulting firm Leichtman Research Group. "Because of Internet-delivered video, you have the ability to cobble together your own video service."
But cobble carefully. Costs can quickly soar if you go all-in with every available streaming service. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and premium channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz offer free trials before you have to commit to monthly payments. Check them out and see what's best for you.
Twitter announced last week that it will stream 10 Thursday night National Football League games for free. Yahoo will stream a free Major League Baseball game every day.
The growing presence of live sports online tells me that pay-TV companies know they won't be able to keep making non-sports fans subsidize the costly viewing pleasure of sports enthusiasts.
ESPN currently represents almost $7 of the typical pay-TV bill, whether or not you watch the channel. Live online streaming of football and baseball shows how archaic the old pay-TV model has become. Pretty soon, sports fans will pay only for the games they want to see, just like iTunes users pay only for the songs they like. The market will determine reasonable pricing.
We'll also see more so-called skinny bundles of channels such as Sling TV. Cheaper, competitive programming packages are the only way that pay-TV companies will stay in the game. Comcast already has introduced a $15 skinny bundle.
This is all because of cord cutting. Now that pay-TV companies are feeling the heat of actual competition, they're forced to step up their game — or go extinct.
That's evolution for you.
David Lazarus is a Los Angeles Times columnist.
