The rate of cord-cutting in the US has been exaggerated, according to a report by VAB.
In the survey, ‘A Culture of Extremes: Exposing the Myths About Video Viewing Behaviour’, VAB argued that pay-TV remains the leading video distribution access point for US consumers (82 million), more than five times as common as OTT-only households (16.4 million).
VAB also challenged the notion that YouTube and Facebook viewing is taking over ad-supported TV, claiming there are seven times more over-18s watching TV content than YouTube, and 13 times more than Facebook, in any given minute.
Meanwhile, Instagram and Snapchat reach only 999,000 and 715,000 over-18s respectively in any given minute, compared with over 34 million for multiscreen TV.
In addition, VAB found an exaggerated emphasis on SVoD viewing; in Q1 2019, linear TV accounted for half of video consumption by 18-34s, with live TV accounting for 44 per cent of total video viewing.
“Too often, advertising, media and marketing industry professionals perpetuate false beliefs that can quickly become distorted, unsubstantiated claims about video consumption,” said VAB executive vice president Danielle DeLauro.
