Traditional TV Viewing: On its Last Legs?

It is only a matter of time before we all cut the cord and rely solely on the Internet for television content.

Asia and Europe are much farther along in this transition, as content providers there increasingly make their full suite of content available on the Internet. Though it won't happen overnight, the US will eventually do the same, driven largely by younger generations.

As you can see in the chart below, those in the 18-to-34 age bracket are much more likely than their older counterparts to watch TV online on a daily basis.

Some demographics are simply set in their ways, where other generations, with fewer years of behavioral debt stored up, are more open to change.

This willingness to change creates a gap between younger viewers and their older counterparts. Gen X seems to fill the gap in this transition, displaying some traits of boomers and some traits of millennials. But Gen X is only estimated to be around 50 million people in the US, whereas millennials are well over 90 million.

This size difference is significant and shows us where the balance of power lies. As Mark Lowenstein points out, 80 million boomers are nothing to sneeze at. They still wield significant financial power, as evidenced by such a high disparity in the ad spend on traditional TV; baby boomers are still watching and buying.

Linear TV today still has the edge in time and overall consumption. However, that is because many of the pay-TV services have not yet fully embraced over-the-top delivery of their content. Every year, providers get closer to allowing their subscription content to be consumed on any device the consumer wants. As Pay-TV providers become more comfortable with this model, and incorporate more live events like sports, I'm certain we will see more and more viewers of all ages embrace Internet TV viewing. For now the central question is when, not if.

For more, check out Which Video Streaming Service Is Best for You?

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.