The average cable bill in the US is more than $1,600 annually, which includes channels that they never watch, according to a report by MNTN research.

While audiences have access to over 190 channels, most only watch 15 of them. Cable TV bills have grown by 52% in the past three years and that has led to the audience preferring to switch to streaming services, paying only for the content they watch.  

More cable customers cutting the cord due to cost of average cable bill

Following the pandemic, the cable TV market share is under 50% all across the globe, but despite the change in which viewers consume TV, 90 million subscribers still pay for cable TV in the United States, the third largest market share after China and India.

It is interesting to note how much value cable TV truly provides, with skyrocketing prices and even far more alarming for advertisers as most channels aren’t even being watched in the first place. The report cites claims that the average number of channels has dropped in cable TV since 2019. However, the average bill has grown from $96 to $147 a month. This accounts for an increase of 52% that pushes the price per channel rise from $0.50 to $0.77.

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However, almost 92% of channels remain unwatched by the average American consumer as they only view only 15 channels out of the available 200. This means that they pay almost $9.57 per channel, an amount that equals or exceeds the cost of leading streaming services including Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, and Max.

Thus, there is a gradual shift towards streaming services meaning that viewers could actually get all the leading platforms for one-third of the amount they pay for cable TV.

As the cable TV industry is losing ground to streaming platforms, almost 62% of the customers feel they are wasting money on their monthly TV bill with 45% saying they would cancel the TV services had their cable not been attached to the internet service provider.

Photo: IMAGO / Manfred Segerer