52% of US households do not have cable or satellite TV

Television technology company Samba TV revealed its latest data regarding viewership in the United States. The “State of the Viewership” analyzed nearly 50 billion hours of linear and streaming throughout the second half of 2022.

Findings of the report claim that linear television viewers were at a seven-quarter low. Linear TV is essentially traditional shows that are consumed at a set time and date on a television channel. This shift was clearly affected by the sheer number of United States household moving away from cable or satellite subscriptions. In fact, 52% of American households do not currently have traditional cable or satellite TV.

Cable, satellite on way out of US households

“We have reached a critical turning point in television and viewing consumption,” stated Samba TV CEO Ashwin Navin. “For the first time in history, a majority of Americans report they no longer have a monthly cable subscription and are totally unreachable by traditional linear advertising.”

Traditional linear television obviously currently contains more advertisements. The aforementioned report claims that 93% of all ad impressions during this timeframe only reached about 55% of the viewership in the United States. However, as we’ve all seen recently, streaming service are starting to broaden their ad reach.

“Meanwhile, streaming has become ubiquitous among every age group, and ad-supported streaming has gone fully mainstream with significant expansion across new platforms, including industry leaders like Netflix and Disney+ entering the world of ads,” continued Navin.

Live sports currently saving linear TV

One aspect that has undoubtedly saved linear television up until now is live sports. Samba TV has reported that National Football League games dominated the top 25 linear programs for 2022. Women’s sports viewership is also at an all-time high. The report suggests that live women’s sporting events recorded a triple digit year over year growth.

Nevertheless, this linear stronghold will almost certainly change as more live sports transition to streaming services. Soccer fans will undoubtedly understand the prediction as many matches are already exclusively available on streaming services.

PHOTO: IMAGO / MIS