The number of Americans paying for traditional TV peaked in 2012

The rise of streaming online video services like Netflix and Hulu means Americans have more choice than ever on what to watch.

It's also leading to more "cord-cutters" who are ditching their TV subscriptions altogether.

According to a chart by BI Intelligence, based on data from The Convergence Consulting Group, the number of households paying for TV peaked in 2012. There were 97.6 million US households with TV subscriptions in 2012, but that number declined by about 150,000 in 2013, and another 260,000 in 2014.

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The Convergence Group says it will only get worse in the next two years: it forecasts a drop of about 310,000 households in 2015, and about 380,000 more in 2016.

On the flip side, the number of non-TV subscribers in the US has been growing since 2010. As of 2014, 22.8 million US households (19% of total) did not have any type of linear TV subscription (Cable, Satellite, or Telco TV). That's expected to jump to 26.8 million (21.8% of total) by 2017.

(Note: Non-TV subscribers are composed of cord cutters and people who have never had a traditional linear cable/satellite/telco TV subscription, so that number is growing faster than paid subscribers are declining.)

BI Intelligence