Spots Moving to Streaming Will Accelerate Cord Cutting: nScreenMedia

Expect a 10% decline in traditional pay-TV subscriber households in 2023, up from what will likely end up being a 9% drop in 2022, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon wrote Monday. Sports are no longer anchoring the traditional pay-TV universe, he said, noting the NFL's Sunday Ticket moving to YouTube TV for the 2023-2024 season and Major League Soccer moving to Apple TV+ this year. He said the roughly 6 million households that will likely cut the cord this year will mean more homes in the U.S. without a traditional pay-TV subscription than with one. He said a big winner in 2023 could be virtual MVPDs, which could add 2 million to 3 million subs. He said free ad-supported TV will have new services launched, including one from WB Discovery, and a third of U.S. homes using FAST services by year's end.