Since 2008, the number of television channels available to the average American viewer has soared from about 129 to 200. Yet the number of those channels that viewers regularly watch declined this year to just 16.
That startling statistic from research firm Nielsen illustrates why cord cutting — the trend of pay-TV customers either scaling back or stopping their subscriptions — accelerated this year.
In 2016, viewers will have even more options outside the standard bundle of 100 TV channels as a growing number of VOD services — from Netflix to Amazon Prime Video and Sling TV — offer a narrower, custom selection of programs. With streaming media devices like the Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick and Roku on the market, tech companies are encouraging viewers to cut even more cords.
Source : SF Chronicle
