Even baby boomers are joining the cord cutting revolution

Streaming services like Hulu and Netflix have finally given us a viable alternative to traditional cable, which has created a new type of consumer known as the “cord cutter.” These consumers have chosen to abandon cable entirely and get all of their movies and television shows from the Internet. However, contrary to popular belief, cord cutting isn’t exclusively a millennial trend, nor is it primarily a millennial trend. According to data from analytics app TXN, cord cutting is popular with every generation, even baby boomers. 

It’s no coincidence that all in the same month, Netflix announces earnings surpassing expectations (remember when pundits were predicting their imminent demise?) and Comcast announces plans to launch a competing streaming service. It’s clear the streaming space — Netflix, Hulu, etc. — is gaining momentum and becoming a viable alternative to traditional cable services such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Customers ditching cable for streaming, a group known as “cord cutters,” benefit from lower pricing, no commercials, and the opportunity/curse to binge-watch their favorite TV shows and movies. Press and commentary around the cord-cutting movement focus on how millennials are responsible for the mass exodus from cable. Millennials value the comparably low cost of streaming and do most of their TV watching on tablets, smartphones, and computers – basically everything other than a TV1. We’re here to tell you that it’s not just the millennials who are making the move; your 80-year-old neighbor is almost as likely to cut the cord as the 22-year-old Starbucks barista.