Several recent reports may have indicated that people generally are not "cord cutting" -- that is, dropping their cable services and watching online video instead. But a new study by The Diffusion Group (TDG), reported by Home Media magazine on Monday, indicates that Netflix subscribers, while not cutting their cords, are, however, downgrading their cable and satellite services. Indeed 32 percent of those surveyed said that they plan to downgrade their cable service or cancel altogether. "Despite its rhetorical positioning, both Netflix and pay-TV operators have long been aware that there will come a point at which its services are not only dilutive to regular TV viewing, but antithetical to pay-TV subscription levels," Michael Greeson, TDG founding partner and director of research, said in the study. "The question for realistic observers has been not if this will occur but when. According to our latest research, that time is upon us." The heaviest Netflix users were identified as those most likely to cut their pay-TV services.

14/06/2011