The cord-cutting as a trend

The cord-cutting , people who fail to pay their subscription to cable TV to start consuming content through the network , is becoming a serious issue in the United States.

Last year, one million subscribers of these services were low in them, and so far this year the figure had reached four hundred thousand . Between 2008 and 2011, an estimated more than two and a half million homes were low . Although there may be some discussion about the numbers, some are already talking about cutting the cord-like " the new file-sharing "an unstoppable trend that the industry interpreted as a pricing problem, as users look for other issues that the industry does not know they provide.

Not talking about a problem replacing it discharges through alternative means such as bit-torrent (although of course be an option that also exists), but rather of services offered by companies like Netflix, Hulu, Apple and Google, supplemented with sites as the web pages of the television or YouTube. There is even a controversial case with cross-complaints in both directions, Airline , which also is attracting some level of care.

The problem of cord-cutting is not the numbers but what lies behind them. In the years I lived in the United States, the premium channel subscription television was an indicator of socioeconomic status: if someone was trying to find out how your financial situation, it was normal to ask if you saw a content of a given channel. Over time, however, subscribing to cable television services is becoming synonymous with "I'm technologically illiterate and I can not access content otherwise." Those opting for the cord-cutting and are not people who need to save money in an economic crisis or those who do not consume television, but sophisticated consumers , those looking for another way to access and consume content they like.

It's a trend we've seen before: e-books did not begin its adoption by customers who wanted to save the money they cost paper books, but between those who were consuming more books. If you see a technology adoption that takes shape in nature precisely in your most avid consumers and more profitable, be careful, and above all, do not misinterpret the symptoms. At home, with someone who writes about television content, the channel that consumes more clearly comes through the computer that lives next to the TV. And when a few days ago someone called me to sell Imagenio Telefonica (five calls to my mobile from 1004 throughout the morning until finally I said, I think it's something that should be reportable as harassment!), I had the slightest doubt that clearly was not interested: just not a service to our attention at all. The content they want to access are simply elsewhere.

The address that follows the theme is clear: progressive increase in the supply network. The cord-cutter and not feel like an outcast who loses everything, but tends to have access to more and more alternatives, many of them linked to commercially viable models. It's simply a matter of time, as we mentioned a few days ago , we begin to see the traditional model of television as a thing of the past. If there is no decree, eventually taking place naturally. While some are obsessed with controlling the TV life as when there was only one channel, it appears that consumer trends are going to end up pointing in another direction.