Broadcasters could use results to justify limits

Roughly a third of iPad owners, 33.9 percent, are considering canceling pay TV during the next six months, a Diffusion Group survey claims. Only about 12.9 percent said they were "highly likely" to cancel service, but the figure is still higher amongst iPad owners than the 6.4 percent amongst people simply planning to buy an iPad. Across all broadband users, just 4.3 percent said they were extremely likely to cancel TV.

27.4 percent of iPad owners -- along with 14.2 of people planning to get one -- said they were very likely to downgrade TV services during the next six months. In the overarching broadband category, about 10 percent said a downgrade was probable. "Despite the fact that cord-cutting remains more widely discussed than carried out, forward-looking research continue[s] to accumulate in support of the hypothesis that specific groups of consumers are quickly warming to the idea," comments TDG research director Michael Greeson. "Certainly this applies to iPad owners and Intenders."

Greeson warns that major TV broadcasters and networks may use such results to restrict online streaming and iPad apps. The TV industry is still largely dependent on a mix of cable and satellite packages with traditional TV advertising. Apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus, however, have made it possible to watch many shows and movies without paying dozens or hundreds of dollars per month.

By Electronista Staff