More Americans cut cable as Internet TV grows

Nearly three million Americans cut their cable television subscriptions last year as an increasing number turned to the Internet, a survey shows. The Nielsen survey released last week found that some of those cutting cable moved to packages from telecom provider or satellites, but overall subscriptions fell by 1.5 million, or around 1.5 percent. Still, the survey found American TV watching is not dead. Some 98 percent of video watched is on TV sets, and the number of high definition TVs grew by eight million. But the TVs are increasingly connected to the Internet or devices such as game consoles, allowing for streaming content. "After several years of consistent year-over-year growth, traditional TV viewing declined one half of one percent or roughly 46 minutes per month," the Nielsen report said. "This may be the result of leveling off after a period of sustained growth, weather and economic factors or of other viewing options. As more homes adopt DVRs and transition to timeshifted viewing, timeshifted TV growth has offset the bulk of live TV declines. Other potential factors include time spent using game consoles, tablets and other emerging devices." The average watcher spent 153 hours per month on "traditional TV," and some 27 hours on "timeshifted" TV, either from a digital recorder or on-demand service. Another 24 hours were spent per month overall on the Internet, and four hours watching Internet videos. Usage of video on mobile phones was little changed in the year, at around four hours per month, the survey found.