Question

Cable TV subscriptions and “cord cutters.” Has the increasing popularity of smartphones and video streaming over the Internet affected cable and satellite TV subscriptions? This was one of the questions of interest in a recent Pew Research Center survey (December 2015). Telephone (both landline and cell phone) interviews were conducted on a representative sample of 2,001 adults living in the United States. For this sample, 1,521 adults reported that they currently receive cable or satellite TV service at home, 180 revealed that they have never subscribed to cable/satellite TV service at home, and the remainder (300 adults) admitted that they are “cord cutters,” i.e., they canceled the cable/satellite TV service. The results are summarized in the Minitab pie chart shown.

a. According to the pie chart, what proportion of the adults in the sample currently have a cable/satellite TV subscription at home? Verify the accuracy of this proportion using the survey results.

b. Now consider only the 1,821 adults in the sample that have at one time or another subscribed to cable/satellite TV service. Create a graph that compares the proportions of adults who currently subscribe to cable/satellite TV service with the proportion who are “cord cutters.”

Short answer

1. 76 percent.
2. 
   

Step-by-step solution

Verifying the accuracy of the proportion

In order to find whether the proportion of adults subscribed to cable/satellite TV service is 75%, the following calculation has been done:

$$\begin{gathered} \mathbf{\text{Proportion}}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{\text{of the adults subscribed to cable/satellite TV service =}}\frac{\mathbf{N}\mathbf{u}\mathbf{m}\mathbf{b}\mathbf{e}\mathbf{r}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{o}\mathbf{f}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{a}\mathbf{d}\mathbf{u}\mathbf{l}\mathbf{t}\mathbf{s}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{s}\mathbf{u}\mathbf{b}\mathbf{s}\mathbf{r}\mathbf{i}\mathbf{b}\mathbf{e}\mathbf{d}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{t}\mathbf{o}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{\text{cable/satellite TV service}}}{\mathbf{T}\mathbf{o}\mathbf{t}\mathbf{a}\mathbf{l}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{n}\mathbf{u}\mathbf{m}\mathbf{b}\mathbf{e}\mathbf{r}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{o}\mathbf{f}\mathbf{ }\mathbf{a}\mathbf{d}\mathbf{u}\mathbf{l}\mathbf{t}\mathbf{s}}\mathbf{\times }\mathbf{100} \\ \mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{=}\frac{\mathbf{1521}}{\mathbf{2001}}\mathbf{\times }\mathbf{100} \\ \mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{=}\mathbf{0}\mathbf{.}\mathbf{76}\mathbf{\times }\mathbf{100} \\ \mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{}\mathbf{=}\mathbf{76}\mathbf{\%} \end{gathered}$$

Therefore, the proportion of adults subscribed to cable/satellite TV services shown in the pie chart is verified.

Explaining the graph

If the ones who didn’t subscribe are omitted, then the sample contains only 1821 adults. Now 1521 of 1821 is 83.5 percent, and 300 of 1821 is 16.5 percent. Point A denotes that 83.5 percent of the adults are subscribed to the cable/TV service and 16.5 percent of the adults are subscribed to the cord-cutters. At point B, those 83.5 percent will subscribe to cord-cutters and 16.5 percent will subscribe to cableTV service, and so the graph is downward sloping.