About 10% of pay-TV households are planning to cancel their cable, satellite or telco TV service this year -- but they're turning to Internet sources of content, not over-the-air broadcasts, according to research from the Consumer Electronics Association.
CEA called out the findings on over-the-air households, noting that currently 8% of all U.S. TV households rely on broadcast TV. That represents some 9 million homes, a number that has been steadily declining since 2005, according to the group.
The trade group has been lobbying the U.S. government to institute voluntary incentive auctions for broadcast spectrum, arguing that it is a resource better used for high-speed wireless data services.
"Over-the-air TV was once the defining distribution platform," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said in announcing the survey results. "But using huge swaths of wireless spectrum to deliver TV to homes no longer makes economic sense. Congress should pass legislation to allow for incentive auctions so free market dynamics can find the best purposes for underused broadcast spectrum, such as wireless broadband."
