37% of TVs Connected to Set-Tops vs. 58% 5 Years Ago: LRG

About 71% of U.S. TV households have a live pay-TV service, down from 82% five years ago and 87% a decade ago, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. Thirty-seven percent of TVs in use have a traditional pay-TV provider’s set-top box, down from 58% in 2016. Live pay-TV viewing skews older, with 77% of viewers over 45 years old having a pay-TV service vs. 64% 18-44, LRG said. Forty-one percent of adults who moved in the past year don’t have a pay-TV service, higher than in previous years; 30% of nonsubscribers had a pay-TV service within the past three years; and 34% never had one. Just over a third of renters don’t have a pay-TV service, vs. a quarter of homeowners, LRG said. A quarter of adults agree it's OK to use a friend’s log-in passwords to watch live TV; 40% for ages 18-34. The September-October survey had 1,200 online respondents and about 800 via phone.