MUMBAI: The first cord-cutters were those who did away with their traditional phone cords in favour of mobile phone services. And Now Yankee Group uncovers a new category: the coax-cutter.

These consumers in the US cut off their pay TV services and use their PCs, gaming consoles and other connected devices to access video programming instead. One in every eight consumers are set to join their ranks in the next 12 months.
 
In the new report, Consumers Consider Axing the Coax, Yankee Group reveals that the number of coax-cutters will grow due to three main factors: a new wave of connected TVs, ever-escalating pay TV prices and the advent of connected consumer devices that can act like set-top boxes, including Sony Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles.

Yankee group principal analyst and co-author of the report Vince Vittore says, "At the most basic level, the decision to cut off pay TV services is an economic one. As programmers continue to demand ever higher fees, which inevitably get passed on to consumers, we believe more consumers will be forced to consider coax-cutting." 
 
The other findings include:

Pay TV market is flat-lining. Subscribers in Western Europe will increase just 3.9 per cent from 2010 to 2013; US subscribers are on a similar path, growing 6.9 per cent in the same time frame.

Age and connected device usage play a role. Consumers who do cut off pay TV services will most likely be in the 18-34 age bracket and heavy mobile users or gamers.

Consumers will turn to other devices to skirt pay TV services. 56 per cent of households have at least one HDTV and 43 per cent have at least one gaming console.