The number of households without cable is about to triple in the next five years, according to a new report from media forecast company Magnaglobal.  Trouble for cable

Cord cutting is playing a big role, but many households will also opt to never subscribe in the first place. Think of the cord cutters as “former subscribers.” But the other important group to watch is “nevers,” people who never have bought a subscription TV service, and don’t want to.

Magnaglobal predicts that around four million households will have canceled pay TV and replaced the service with online content by 2016. This number is up from just 455,000 households in 2011.

The number of households that will never subscribe to pay TV will double from around 2.5 million in 2011 to five million in 2016. Together, both groups will make up nine million households without a monthly pay TV bill.

Separately, Microsoft (News - Alert) announced that its Xbox 360 would now carry free and subscription services in most major markets around the globe. Beyond gaming and Netflix and Hulu (News - Alert), which have been part of Xbox for some time, the connected gaming console will now carry channels like ESPN, HBO, Bravo, Syfy, BBC and services such as Comcast (News - Alert) Xfinity, Verizon FIOS and AT&T’s U-verse,  and previously Web-based content like Google's YouTube. Xbox as cable company

By 2016, Magnaglobal expects video on demand, including over the top services, will reach 65.7 million households (approximately 55.7 percent of TV households).

This compares with 54.8 million VOD households (46.9 percent of total TV households) at the end of the second quarter of 2011. As of the end of the second quarter of 2011, approximately 85.7 million homes – 72.4 percent of the total – were online; 91 percent of these homes using broadband services, Magnaglobal says.