Olympics Buck Cord Cutting Trend for TV Viewing

As many begin to “cut the cord,” and avoid TV payments in favor of streaming, a new study has found that for this year’s Olympic Games, that trend is being bucked, with 78% of viewers choosing television over over online streams. For the Morning Consult, Newhouse professor and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture Robert Thompson helped explain this data.

“These are not just television shows,” Thompson said. “They’re rituals, and a TV set makes a better altar on which to consume a ritual than a mobile device.” He also adds another bonus of TV viewing, noting that the broadcasts are, “not quite highlight reels, but certainly compressed,” in comparison to the streams.