The shift in attitude underscores a broader change in the viewing habits of not just the young and tech-savvy but mainstream America as well. The rising cost of cable and the abundance of online video options (and gadgets that can ferry online programs to your television) have more people questioning why they pay for cable TV.
"It's very much more about economics than technology, and more about economics than content," said John Barrett, director of consumser analytics at Parks Associates. "We ask cord cutters, 'Why did you do it?' They say, 'It was because of the price.'"
ouseholds with children aren't the prototypical cord cutters, but data suggests they could be on their way.
Of broadband households with minors living in them, 54 percent have subscribed to an online video service, according to data from Parks Associates, compared with only 36 percent of households that don't have any young people.
The same data shows that the momentum of adopting these services -- known as "over the top" because they ride on the Internet connection instead of a cable line -- is stronger in households with kids. Over-the-top subscriptions had a nine percentage point increase in households with minors in the beginning of 2013 from a year earlier, nearly double the five point increase in households without them.
The overwhelming majority of households still subscribe to services like cable. But 11 percent of households with minors are cord cutters, compared with 9 percent for adult-only households, according to Parks.
From the article, "The unlikely group putting the kibosh on cable TV: Parents" by Joan E. Solsman.
