More TV viewers may be Cutting the Cord this year

written by: Gianluigi Cuccureddu

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Published on Tuesday, 04 January 2011 16:15

This year the buzz is centered on Internet-connected TV and whether it will take off and that viewers will do what cable and satellite companies fear most: cancel their $70-a-month subscriptions in favor of cheaper Web options.

Phil Wiser, co-founder and president of Sezmi, a service that allows users to watch TV from both local stations and online sources, elaborates:

"2010 was the year that people started wondering, questioning if cord-cutting is real. In 2011, it's going to become obvious. Many of the TVs will be unveiled at this week's Consumer Electronics Show, the annual conference in Las Vegas that attracts more than 100,000 tech devotees searching for technology's next big thing."

Jason Kilar, chief executive of the Hulu online video service, said:

"It's going to be a fundamentally big transition. You'll see unparalleled choice, from the standpoint of the consumer, when you open up the Web through that screen."

Looking at mobile devices, the newer 4G phones operate close to 10 times faster than current smart phones, enabling watching movies and television via a cellular connection.

Scott McGregor, chief executive of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp.:

"People more and more want to take all the stuff they're doing on a computer or a TV and start putting it in their pocket. Which makes microchips for popular consumer devices including the iPhone and iPad, as well as TVs and Blu-ray players."

Read more reactions from the TV space on Connected TV and cord cutting here.