Cord-cutting accelerates as empty restaurants, bars ditch cable

Cord-cutting hit a record high last quarter as shuttered businesses began letting go of their cable and satellite bills.

Why it matters: Until now, cord-cutting was mostly a consumer household-focused phenomenon.

Be smart: “Businesses have the same motivations to cut the cord as consumers – content and cost," said David Wiesenfeld, chief strategist at Tru Optik.

• "When restaurants and bars begin to reopen, cutting the cord is the easiest way to offset lost revenue and reduce operating costs while also meeting the demands of their customers.”

By the numbers: Traditional Pay TV subscriptions fell by 1.8 million in Q1, the worst quarterly result on record, according to research firm MoffettNathanson.

• "At 63% of occupied households, traditional Pay TV penetration has reached a level not previously seen since roughly 1995," per analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson.