20 percent of all the people watching video content in 2023 have been cord cutters: Kantar

Connected TVs are rapidly taking over Indian households. According to a Kantar-Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report, 20 percent of all the people watching video content in 2023 have been cord cutters. The report said there have been about 208 million cord cutters in the year gone by.

“The cord cutters are more than the users watching content only on linear television, " said the report.

Who are cord cutters?

Cord cutters are individuals who move on from traditional cable or satellite television subscriptions to access content/entertainment through internet-based streaming services.

Thanks to the growing access and use of the internet in the country. As per the report, internet users in India has crossed the 800 million mark, with rural India having more internet users than urban.

However, it's not just about the internet. There are other factors too.

According to a recent Group M report, the addressable TV ecosystem is poised to extend its reach to over 45 million homes, constituting 21 percent of addressable TV households in 2024.

This surge is attributed to major sporting events such as the IPL and World Cup, acting as catalysts to boost viewership on connected smart televisions.

“During key moments, the concurrence on addressable TV has peaked at 11.8 million, further amplifying the impact of advertising. The influence of over-the-top (OTT) content and diverse geographical regions, including the Hindi-speaking market (HSM) and Karnataka-Goa (KN), is also contributing significantly to this growth,” said the This Year Next Year(TYNY) 2024 report from Group M.

The emergence of over 110 fast channels offering diverse content is another contributing factor, the TYNY report pointed out.

This has resulted in delivering billions of opportunities to see (OTS) for advertisers, indicating a paradigm shift in the way audiences engage with television.