On April 13, Yahoo! News ran a story on the nearly 800,000 Americans who have canceled their cable or satellite provider in favor of over-the-air television and web-based content. The story posted online about 6 pm ET, instantly gained traction on Yahoo! News, eventually becoming the most emailed story on the news site. In the story’s first 48 hours, it has over 9,000 comments and has been emailed more than 600 times and the numbers are still growing! Many of the comments on the lively board were from cable and satellite users or people who had already dumped their cable or satellite provider to save money and take advantage of over-the-air TV. Almost all of the users on the comment board are voicing their dissatisfaction with the quality and price of their cable. Here are a couple of examples of the thousands of posts:
“I cancelled home phone and only use my cell, I haven’t had cable or satellite for 10+ years. I use netflix and youtube. I have whatever tv channels I get throught a digital antenna next to my tv (like rabbit ears but not so ugly) and that gives me all my local channels. I don’t miss cable or a home phone at all and I like the extra money in my pocket!”
-Share~
“I absolutely agree with everyone………I thought i was alone in this…….guess not. I have Direct TV just the basic package and pay 60.00 plus every month,it is a ridiculous price to pay when all i want are my local channels. After my contract exspires I will be cutting the cord also. I have 8 months to go and then i can wash my hands of them. Thanks for the good advice here…I feel empowered again!”
-Christine
About two weeks before the story ran, we were in Washington D.C. making a case to the xxxx for the growth of over-the-air TV. Yahoo! News story figures and comments only supports what we have presented to xxx. We presented proof that over-the-air has experienced growth since the digital conversion, not just for consumers, but also broadcasters expanding the number of channels offered.
From dealing with customers directly, we already knew about the continuing trend of consumers moving away from pay TV. The complaints we hear are the same that people are posting on the comment board, like the recurring monthly cost and compressed picture. We are not a bit surprised to see this story and the buzz and popularity that has come from it.
Yahoo! News has on average has around 32 million unique visitors a month. The author, Ben Patterson who writes The Gadget Hound section of Yahoo! News, cited information from a website called TechCrunch.com as a basis for much of the story. Around a month before this story ran, we sent Ben Patterson a press release with information pertaining to over-the-air growth, we hope that he found it helpful in writing his most recent story.