16% of Spanish pay-TV households subscribed to pay TV for the first time in 2015

New Research Shows Cord Cutting Lower in Western Europe than the United States

Parks Associates today announced new research showing 16% of Spanish pay-TV households subscribed to pay TV for the first time last year, although the country’s broadband households still exhibit high incidences of cord shaving, cord cutting, and “cord nevers.” Connected Consumer in Europe reveals Spanish consumers are more likely than consumers in other Western European markets either to have never had pay TV or to have cancelled pay TV in favor of online video sources.

“First-time adoption of pay TV is up among Spanish broadband households as is the penetration of pay TV overall,” said Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates. “The Spanish pay-TV market in general has a very active, cost-conscious base of subscribers, with higher-than-average rates of downgrades and upgrades and a substantial population of cord nevers.”

Spain actually exceeds the U.S. in percentage of cord cutters and broadband households that watch online video, but in the other surveyed countries—the U.K., France, and Germany—the incidence of cord cutting is far lower than in the U.S.

“The percentage of consumers in the U.K., Germany, and France cancelling pay-TV services and instead using online video is half the rate seen in the U.S. market,” Sappington said.

Connected Consumer in Europe surveys consumers in multiple Western European countries and provides a complete picture of European connected consumers, including their household demands, expectations, and purchase plans. Parks Associates analysts make direct comparisons to previous EU surveys to gauge the key trends and growth areas for these markets.