Why Millennials don’t have cable TV

We’ve heard it a million times: Millennials are the insufferable “me” generation. There’s been plenty of counter-attack on the concept, too. Time magazine famously published an article on how and why millenials will “save us all”. So I’ll save us some time and assume the generation has been critiqued enough—I won’t go into that whole spiel. However, since we’re here to talk cable, let’s go straight to the point: I don’t have cable TV; Millennials as a whole are done with cable TV. Now hold on before you scroll down to the comments and unleash your Monday-morning fury. I am a cord cutting, bicultural, Hispanic millennial, and thus represent the cord cutting, bicultural, Hispanic millennial segment pretty well. But also, there are all kinds of research to back up my argument. TV usage in young adults has dropped 20 percent in the last four years, and let’s face it, if this surprised you you’re also probably reading this on your desktop computer in your Florida home. Here’s the deal: US Hispanic, bicultural millennials are ditching multichannel video (satellite, phone company, and cable TV) and consuming content through streaming (we love our Netflix), which is troublesome for all the big Pay TV companies.

Let’s explore the why. We live in an era of temporality. There’s a reason why Ikea furniture brings in gross profits of over 13 billion dollars a year. Their products are stylish, yet cheap and temporary. And look, I’m not saying baby boomers are to blame (completely), but we also live in a world of zero job security. The fact of the matter is it’s just, too, darn, expensive. Plus, it’s become way easier to move around the world, which means we are no longer up for getting tied up in long-term commitments. Two-year contract? No, thanks. All I want is to watch season after season of my new favorite show in bed, on my phone, until I can’t remember what sunlight looks like. And it’d be ideal if I could do this on a month-to-month basis without going bankrupt.

We want to be able to binge watch, whenever, wherever, at an affordable price. If you don’t want to take my word for it, we can look at numbers. Content is very much still being consumed. According to YuMe studies, when it comes to TV shows, 37% of millennials are die-hard fans, versus 16% of baby boomers. However, it’s being consumed differently. Smartphone usage is off the charts—they’re the most popular viewing tools for millennials, since 94% of us consider ourselves to be heavy multitaskers (hey, we’ve got short attention spans). Add to this that US Hispanics are 2X more likely to stream on smartphones than the general population and are also 40% more likely to watch 5+ hours of digital video weekly. Millennial, bicultural Hispanics are tech-savvy peeps who know what the want and how they want it.

It’s obvious: Insufferable millennials or not, the times they are a-changin’ and we want the Pay TV industry to change with them. But all is not lost, it’s just time to revisit strategies and evolve. The “trend” is as sharp as the scissors hanging from that cord-cutter’s hand, and I’m sorry to tell you that more than a trend, it’s now a lifestyle.

Natalia Castells-Esquivel is a copywriter for PM3, formerly PM Publicidad, a small multicultural creative agency based in Atlanta that recently went through some big changes. If you want to know more (or look at pictures of her puppy Taco) visit pm3.agency or Click here to learn more about the author.