About 11 percent of Atlanta homes have ‘cut the cord’

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 23:  The Netflix App logo is seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet.  The new law will allow RTUK, the states media watchdog, to monitor online broadcasts and block content of social media sites and streaming services including Netflix and YouTube. Turkey already bans many websites including Wikipedia, which has been blocked for more than a year. The move came a day after private media company Dogan Media Company announced it would sell to pro-government conglomerate Demiroren Holding AS. The Dogan news group was the only remaining news outlet not to be under government control, the sale, which includes assets in CNN Turk and Hurriyet Newspaper completes the governments control of the Turkish media.  (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Credit: Chris McGrath

Credit: Chris McGrath

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 23: The Netflix App logo is seen on a television screen on March 23, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan passed a new law on March 22 extending the reach of the country's radio and TV censor to the internet. The new law will allow RTUK, the states media watchdog, to monitor online broadcasts and block content of social media sites and streaming services including Netflix and YouTube. Turkey already bans many websites including Wikipedia, which has been blocked for more than a year. The move came a day after private media company Dogan Media Company announced it would sell to pro-government conglomerate Demiroren Holding AS. The Dogan news group was the only remaining news outlet not to be under government control, the sale, which includes assets in CNN Turk and Hurriyet Newspaper completes the governments control of the Turkish media. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Originally posted Tuesday, March 12, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

Atlanta is not a market one of the bigger markets for cord cutting.

About 11 percent of homes in the metro area choose not to subscribe to cable or satellite, according to the latest Nielsen data. About half of the "cord cutters" only watch broadcast TV or about 5.5 percent. The other half uses a combination of a "skinny bundle" via streaming or some use of Netflix, Hulu and the like.

In comparison, nearly a quarter of the Phoenix market has cut the cord, with Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Denver in the top 5 among major markets.

Atlanta is relatively low when it comes to cord cutting, comparable to markets such as Tampa, Baltimore and San Francisco. The lowest cord cutting major markets are Boston and New York, which may be in part because of the urban density that make using digital antennas less viable.

Nationally, 89 million of American households now have cable or satellite subscriptions. That’s the lowest since 2007 and down about 10 percent from a peak of 99 million in 2012.

The losses appear to be accelerating. In 2018 alone, there was a net loss of 2.9 million, according to the latest study by Leichtman Research Group.

About 16 million homes accessed over the air (OTA) television with antennas, according to Nielsen data from May 2018. About 41 percent did not have access to streaming services.

ajc.com

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