Research firm finds that cord-cutters are less than two-tenths of one percent of all pay-TV customers

Cord-Cutters Just 0.18% Of Pay-TV Subs Worldwide: Study [Multichannel News]

Informa Telecoms & Media, a research firm based out of the United Kingdom, has released a new study that examines the extent of pay-TV cord-cutting across the globe.

According to their report, in 2010, about 1.2 million pay-TV customers cut the cord and moved solely to Internet-based online video. This small number makes up only 0.18 percent of all global pay-TV customers. Only 36 percent of those cord-cutters (roughly 426,000) were in the United States.

Informa projects over the next five years with as many as 2 percent of global pay-TV subscribers will move to Internet video by 2015. However, the research shows that the greatest increases will occur in less developed markets. These markets have greater broadband penetration compared to pay-TV penetration and thus are likely to be more susceptible to cord-cutting.

For example, Internet video is growing rapidly in China, though there are numerous pirated content sites, which are believed to be driving some of that expected increase. In 2015, Informa predicts that Asia and Pacific nations will account for 39 percent of cord-cutters, while North America will only account for 19 percent.