Pay-TV 'Defectors' Outnumber 'Desirers' More Than 2 to 1, GfK Says

The nation's nearly 50 million pay-TV "defectors" -- who have reduced or are contemplating cuts to their pay-TV service -- vastly outnumber the roughly 22 million "desirers" loyal to or interested in expanding their pay-TV subscription, GfK said in a news release Wednesday. It said the data comes from its just-issued Cord Evolution report tracking traditional and streaming TV trends. According to GfK, defectors have marginally higher income than desirers -- $62,000 annually vs. $60,000 -- and stream less video (62 percent of defectors having done so in the past month, compared with 72 percent of desirers). Desirers, meanwhile, are more receptive to advertising, more prone to binge viewing of TV shows, and have stronger affinity for watching live linear TV, GfK said.