There is much debate surrounding satellite TV service subscribers, about 32.3 million, who claim to be dealing with suffrage from the epidemic of cord restraint. If their content technically is delivered wirelessly via satellite, can they claim to be tied to a cord? There are approximately 16,029,330 Households with Broadcast antenna only. These consumers, Ever-Cordless, are indeed wireless recipients of content and do not consider themselves tied to a cord. Some argue therefore that satellite TV customers can no more claim to be bound by a cord than a Cord-Never can and can just as much claim to be cutting a cord as an antenna only consumer can claim to be a cordless Digital Native.

But it begs the question…is a Digital Native necessarily a Cord-Never? What we do know for sure is that all Cord-Nevers are Digital Natives but not all Digital Natives are Cord-Nevers. For some Digital Natives, as inconceivable as it may sound, voluntarily tie themselves down with cords. This is highly irregular in a time when consumers are no longer force tethered to their cords and have been set free! The era of oppression and immobilization by yards of thick black cord hostage holding against ones will has come to an end. Why would anybody opt for a chord?! Even those who cannot muster up the courage or the strength to completely cut the cord to become a Cord-Cutter have begun trimming the chord. These Cord-Trimmers are desperate and their desperation has given way to resourcefulness. They will use anything they can find to do their trimming – butter knifes, broken glass, hack saws, even their own teeth! They have tasted freedom and want more. They are intent on constructing their own content cocoons and the key is to be nimble and autonomous. How else can they capture video which flutters about like a butterfly, pollinating new platforms as it flies way beyond the living room?

Many of the millions who have been set free from bondage become morally corrupt and self-absorbed Cord-Drifters who have no allegiance to anything but their own whims and desires. As a result, OTT churn is high. Their newfound freedom has them drunk on the power of consumer choice. AVOD, SVOD, vMVPD, OLV, CTV .. you name it, they’ll try it and drop it faster than you can say “Advanced TV could be a viable solution because it brings data-infused audience targeting beyond just gender and age and delivers analytics between TV ad exposure and subsequent consumer behaviors”. Whatever feeds their insidious march towards total ala carte will be devoured and regurgitated in the quest. ONE thing is holding back an epidemic of chaotic debase Cord-Drifting behavior and that is that ala carte add$ up fast.

Cord-Dipsomania is suffered by those who struggle with the irony that a broadband cord is required in order to get any type of OTT service. In order to cope, they often turn to alcohol. The newest trend uncovered is that of the Cord-Never-EVER. They will not accept content of any kind that travels through any cord whatsoever at any point during its dissemination from content creator to consumer. It’s more of a principal than anything. Virtue signaling. A movement which will perhaps catch on as it is spread by social media. What happens to a Cord-Cutter-Intender who lives in a households predominantly composed of Chord-Endemics? By the year 2020 it is estimated to become the #1 cause of domestic violence.