35% of subscribers include to drop cable

At a time when cable networks are trying to secure carriage with streaming providers, a new study by Beta Research found that the growing number of cord-cutters and non-subscribers to cable showed the most interest in Discovery Channel.

Beta Research found that 35% of cable subscribers were extremely or very interested in dropping cable TV and watching only the TV programming available on their tablets and computers via services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.

The study also found that among the major cable networks, those non-subscribers and cord cutters expressed interest in channels offering main non-fiction fare as opposed to those with high-profile scripted shows.

In addition to Discovery, the top-ranked networks in the Beta study were History, Food Network, National Geographic Channel, Animal Planet and A&E Network.

Streaming TV service fuboTV on Wednesday reached new, expanded distribution deal with Discovery, which owns Discovery Network, Food Network, and Animal Planet among its biggest channels.

Behind them were AMC and FX.

High ranking digital basic and mid-sized networks included Discovery’s Motor Trend, Fox Business Network, Ovation, Bloomberg TV, Disney XD and FYI.

Adults with high interest in these networks were more likely than others to have high interest in cable TV competition and technology and vice versa, according to Beta.

Revolt TV, MavTV, Nick Music, Sportsman Channel and Fusion were the top-ranked emerging networks in the study.

Beta Research conducted the study online during March and April 2019 with a national sample of 1,479 multichannel subscribers and a sub-sample of 521 non-subscribers and cord cutters.