Cutting the cable cord sounds good, but is anyone really doing it?

The pay-TV business (that includes cable, satellite, and telco) saw only modest growth in 2012, according to SNL Kagan, which will add fuel to claims that viewers - especially young viewers - are switching to cheaper ways of accessing content. The number of pay-TV subscribers totaled 100.4 million in 2012, a pickup of only 46,000 from a year earlier. Cable continued to lose ground, as it has for years, while telcos like Verizon and AT&T gained ground. All told, call it a wash. But there's little evidence that the cord-cutting movement has picked up much momentum,. A Morgan Stanley survey of pay TV customers found that 17 percent said they were willing to cut the cord - only a bit more than last year. ATD's Peter Kafka is right when he says that it's a little like wanting to be a vegan. It's a nice idea until you realize how impractical it is. That's especially true when it comes to sports programming, which is why rights fees continue to climb off the charts - and why pay-TV subscribers are seeing their rates inch higher. Truth is, traditional distribution channels continue to dominate TV-watching because it's still the easiest and most reliable way to see the most content. Not all content, but enough.