In 2016, cable TV companies made $81 billion revenue from subscriptions.
Eighty-one billion dollars in revenue. In a single year.
Believe it or not, that was a bad year. Two years earlier, in 2014, they made $99 billion. They peaked just shy of the hundred mark, then Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and all the others started taking market share away, and the number began to decline.
In 2016, Netflix made an estimated $4.8 billion in North American subscription revenues.
Entertainment is a valuable business. And an expensive cost.
Each of these numbers has another side to it. If the average bill is $1000 per year for cable, then $81 billion is 81 million subscribers, give or take. Each of these people swaps $1000 per year in return for the ability to consume countless hours of their free time watching mostly reruns of shows.
How much do you spend on cable? How much can you save if you cut the cord? What are the alternatives to cable that might save you a ton of money?