At first glance, this seems like further evidence of the much ballyhooed, if statistically suspect, trend of cord-cutting, whereby people transition from watching television to streaming online video. Pay TV subscriptions in the United States are down this year. In addition, wireless carriers like Verizon and Sprint have been encouraging the idea that faster new wireless networks could serve as a substitute for landline broadband services. So cable companies that bundle broadband access with cable television service are seeing threats on multiple fronts.
Forrester’s survey does show a significant increase in the number of people using the Internet to watch streaming video; 33 percent of adults surveyed this year said they use the Internet to watch video, up from 18 percent in 2007.
Copyright the New York Times 2011


