U.S. spending on standalone pay TV increased in Q3 2024

Parks Associates: Spending on Standalone Mobile Phone, Internet Service, and pay TV Increased Again in Q3 2024

DALLAS — Parks Associates’ latest Home Services Dashboard reveals that consumers who do not bundle their home services reported an increase in their monthly spending from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024. The research firm’s consumer survey of 8,000 US internet households reveals that the monthly average spend among consumers without bundles was $100 for mobile phone service, $91 for traditional pay-TV service, $71 for internet service, and $53 on security service.

The Home Services Dashboard visualizes the most important metrics informing the strategic decision making of companies providing communications services to the home. This latest release notes an increase in the number of households bundling their internet service with other home services, mainly mobile.

“There are signs indicating an increasingly bifurcated market, as consumers opt for either the lowest cost and most bare-boned service or for valuable bundled options combining both traditional and value-added services,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Director, Parks Associates. “Millions of lower-income households have reduced their internet service spending with some even cutting it entirely as a result of the Affordable Connectivity Program’s (ACP) termination earlier this year, so ISPs are competing both for high-value subscribers and financially constrained cord-cutters.”

Net promoter scores (NPS) for home internet, streaming and traditional pay-TV, and security services experienced slight downturns in the third quarter. Home internet services held a low but still positive score. With many households reevaluating their internet service spending following the end of ACP, service providers have the opportunity to capture these subscribers, provided they can hit the right price point.

“Leading ISPs are introducing new low-cost internet offerings, paired with streaming video and mobile services bundles,” Hanich said. “Consumers overall remain price constrained, and further improvements will depend on how well we’re able to tame inflation.”

Consumer Insights Dashboards present survey-based consumer research that tracks foundational market metrics, such as product or service adoption, household spending intentions, churn, and key tracking metrics on leading industry players. This research is available for purchase or as part of an annual subscription.