A new study from Antenna finds that Roku’s $2.99 a month ad-free streamer has racked up more than 1 million subs since it was first introduced in August of 2025. The Antenna study also found that Howdy is also achieving retention rates exceeding those of Premium SVOD averages.

The researchers noted that when it first launched there was some skepticism about Howdy’s chances in a competitive market of well-established streaming platforms.

Antenna estimates that Roku’s Howdy confounded those expectations by adding nearly 300K Subscribers in its first month and then added 100K or more in each subsequent month.

The streamer’s success was also built on a unique distribution strategy, as it was initially available only through Roku-owned platforms, like The Roku Channel.

Howdy drove a significant amount of activity, accounting for 23% of all SVOD Sign-ups via The Roku Channel since launch. With more than 100 million streaming households on its platform, Roku has a powerful built-in distribution channel, the researcher reported.

More information is available here.

As streaming services continue to boost their profitability with price hikes, more ads and cost-conscious programming budgets, Deloitte’s annual “Digital Media Trends” survey indicates a growing level of frustration with the offerings of streaming services and their cost.

This year’s survey finds that while spending on streaming services has remained flat year-over-year, 61% of respondents report they would cancel their favorite service if monthly prices increased by $5. The survey also reported that a very large majority (73%) are “frustrated” with price hikes and that the number of subscribers churning in and out of SVOD services in the last six months rose to 41% from 39% last year.

Increasingly cash strapped consumers are also controlling their spending on streaming services. The average subscribing household reports spending $69 per month on streaming video services (streaming services), consistent year-over-year.

Meanwhile, ad-supported streaming grows: Around two-thirds (68%) of streaming subscribers now pay for ad an increase of over 20 percentage points from 2024, reflecting rising price sensitivity and a growing willingness to trade ads for lower monthly subscription costs.

On the bright side, the researchers noted that fans are emerging as an important driver of growth: Most consumers (around 80%) identify as "fans" and spend $71 per month, or 27% more, on streaming services compared with $56 for non-fans, demonstrating the strategic importance of this group.

"Fandom doesn't end when a season does — it carries forward, fueled by the stories, teams, and creators fans love,” said Doug Van Dyke, vice chair and U.S. telecom, media and entertainment sector leader, Deloitte. “As some consumers plan to spend less on streaming services, passionate fans have the potential to become even more valuable, investing time, money and energy across platforms. AI can be harnessed to understand what fans care about, anticipate what they want next, and bring together content, community, and commerce in ways that feel personal. The providers that do this well may do more than just capture attention — they can earn loyalty that lasts."

The Deloitte researchers described the other key findings as follows:

• Streaming's next chapter: As subscription growth slows, ad-supported tiers take the lead. Ad-supported streaming has moved decisively into the mainstream. As costs have risen over time, ad-supported tiers have emerged not just as a budget alternative, but as a primary engine of subscriber growth and engagement, especially as many consumers grow more cautious about recurring expenses and frustrated with rising prices.
• The majority (68%) of SVOD subscribers now have at least one ad-supported tier — up from 46% in 2024 — with double-digit growth across every generation.
• While the broader streaming market remains steady, value for media and entertainment companies can be unlocked by further engaging fans. Deloitte found that around 80% of consumers identify as fans of at least one category — music, sports, TV shows and movies, video games, and more.
• Fans are a distinct and economically meaningful consumer segment. Compared with non-fans, they invest more time and money in entertainment and participate more broadly across streaming, gaming, and music platforms. Importantly, fandom is not fleeting or confined to younger audiences — for many, the time and money they devote to the team, artist, content, or creator they love remains consistent over time.
• Fans say they spend an average of $71 per month on streaming subscriptions, 27% more than non-fans, who report spending an average of $56 per month.
• Fans report spending almost an hour more (51 additional minutes, or 16% more time) per day on entertainment activities compared to non-fans.
• Almost half (49%) of fans report sustained engagement with their fandom (in terms of time and money spent) throughout their lives.
• More than half of fans (55%) say that being a fan leads them to engage across multiple platforms; this figure rises to roughly 70% among Gen Z and millennial fans.
• Streaming services need to differentiate themselves through personalization. Fans don't just watch — they stay invested. They're clear about what they want: streaming platforms that are easier to navigate, more connected, and more personalized. Increasingly, they're looking for experiences year-round that extend beyond a single moment, whether it's a premiere, a championship game, or a concert. When those moments pass, fans often turn to other spaces besides streaming platforms for deeper experiences and communities built around the shows, sports, bands, and creators they love. Platforms that nurture fandom on an ongoing basis can keep fans engaged longer, help them feel understood, and grow their audience over time.
• More than half of fans (52%) say social platforms are their primary way of discovering new content — rising to 73% among Gen Z fans — yet 44% say they typically discover content on social and then go elsewhere to watch, listen, or purchase the full version.
• Almost half (49%) of fans surveyed say ads would be more effective if tailored to their fandoms. Some fans are open to AI-generated advertisements, with around a third saying they "don't care" if ads are made by GenAI.
• 40% of fans (49% of Gen Z and millennial fans) wish they could aggregate all their favorite fan content into one place.
• AI can help enrich the fan experience: 27% of fans say they'd like personalized, AI-generated digests of streaming, social, podcast, and actor updates about their favorite shows and franchises. Around a quarter of fans (24%) say they would like the option to co-create content with GenAI, like developing alternative endings to shows or movies. A similar share also say they'd be willing to interact with virtual AI personalities if they were interesting or informative.

The 20th edition of Deloitte's "Digital Media Trends" report is based on a survey of 3,575 consumers, age 14 and older, fielded by an independent research firm in October and November 2025.

It is available here.

For additional details and data, visit Deloitte's Digital Media Monitor, which provides a longitudinal view of U.S. consumers' engagement and spending on media and entertainment products, services, and subscriptions.

DALLAS—As pay TV operators continue to struggle with cord cutting and streaming platforms seeks to retain fickle consumers who regularly cancel subscriptions, a new study from Parks Associates takes a deep dive into consumer loyalty, engagement levels with various services and the factors that motivate them to either subscribe or drop a service.

Understanding those issues are particularly important for streaming services and programmers facing high marketing costs to attract consumers in an increasingly fragmented streaming landscape. A better understanding of their willingness to pay for multiple services and their long-term loyalty could boost profitability and reduce marketing costs, the researchers noted.

The new Parks survey found that 60% say the main reason for cancelling pay TV services is to save money and reduce monthly bills. In contrast, programming seems to pay a major role in decisions to start and retain streaming services. About one quarter (23%) of consumers reported cancelling streaming subscription services because they finished the show they were watching. Likewise, the top reason to subscribe, wanting a specific program/event, recently rose from 27% to 32%.

The survey also ranked the new promoter score of various streaming services. The score measures how likely subscribers are to recommend (or promote) a service to someone else on a scale of 1 to 100. By that measure, which provides a rough approximation of the value consumers see in a services, Netflix toped the survey, followed by Discovery+, HBO Max, Fox One and ESPN+. Peacock ranked last.

This research explores engagement trends in video services, measures the impact of exclusive content and original programming, and quantifies consumer demand for interactive and personalized experiences. This report provides the insights platforms need to balance content investment with sustainable business models and ensure long-term profitability.

More information is available here.

AI is playing an increasingly central role in broadcasters’ direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategies. This shift was evident at IBC 2024, where discussions underscored AI’s evolution from a buzzword to an essential driver of innovation in media and entertainment. According to a recent Google Cloud study, nearly two-thirds of senior media and entertainment executives now see AI as a critical driver of future revenue growth. Yet, the question remains: How exactly does AI support revenue generation for broadcasters?

The Role of AI in Tackling Churn to Protect Revenue
Churn remains one of the most significant threats to revenue growth in subscription-based models. Research conducted by Omdia uncovered that average industry churn rates range from 11% to 14% per month. This implies that many streaming platforms are churning nearly half of their subscriber base every six months. With three-quarters of industry leaders predicting churn will hold steady or even increase, the challenge at hand is evident.

AI steps in here by equipping broadcasters with the tools to proactively address churn. By identifying at-risk subscribers and enabling timely, targeted interventions, AI becomes a powerful ally in retaining customers and protecting revenue. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

Four Key AI Applications to Reduce Churn and Drive Revenue Growth
1. Proactively identifying and retaining at-risk subscribers: AI’s predictive analytics capabilities are revolutionizing how broadcasters identify subscribers at risk of churning. By using machine learning models to analyze patterns in viewing habits, customer interactions, and tenure, AI systems can highlight subscribers likely to cancel—and even pinpoint underlying reasons. This data can inspire proactive engagement strategies, offering an opportunity to retain subscribers before they leave.

Once an at-risk subscriber is identified, AI-driven tools can help broadcasters tailor interventions to different segments based on those subscribers’ unique profiles. This may include special offers, relevant content recommendations or engagement prompts. With this approach, broadcasters can get better positioned to retain high-value subscribers, thereby protecting at-risk revenue.

2. Delivering personalized, targeted responses to drive loyalty: Timely, relevant outreach is critical for effective retention. AI-driven campaigns empower broadcasters to connect with audiences through personalized messaging, offers, and reminders based on a subscriber’s history and engagement. This precise targeting is essential for building loyalty in today’s hypercompetitive market.

AI-powered content recommendations based on individual viewing histories, for example, can help deepen engagement and build excitement for future offerings. In fact, nearly 50% of streamers report appreciating AI-curated recommendations, according to a Media Play News survey, underscoring how valuable these personalized suggestions are for retention.

Beyond content, AI can support dynamic, flexible pricing strategies. By analyzing regional preferences, user activity, or behavioral data, AI can enable broadcasters to offer personalized pricing options, such as discounts, upgrades, or subscription adjustments. These models can allow broadcasters to meet subscribers’ needs more precisely, reducing the likelihood of cancellation.

Another application: AI-driven in-app notifications can further enhance engagement by nudging subscribers to explore new content or remind them of upcoming events they may enjoy. Predictive analytics can also anticipate payment behaviors, allowing for timely payment reminders or alternative options to reduce involuntary churn. These tailored interactions can help build a subscriber experience that meets users where they are and strengthens retention efforts.

3. Enhancing marketing performance with data-driven insights: AI’s capabilities aren’t just restricted to predicting churn and enabling action; It can also enhance the overall effectiveness of marketing efforts. By analyzing subscriber responses in real time, AI can allow broadcasters to continuously refine their retention strategies.

For instance, AI can identify which types of campaigns perform best, what drives engagement and which subscriber segments are at highest risk. This data can equip broadcasters to adjust tactics based on proven insights rather than on guesswork. Over time, these adaptations can make marketing efforts more effective and efficient, directly impacting subscriber loyalty and revenue.

Additionally, AI can even simplify the process of gathering insights. Using AI tools, broadcasters can quickly obtain answers to key questions about subscriber behavior, churn drivers, and revenue trends from vast datasets without extensive manual analysis. This can enable faster, data-driven decision-making and reduce the dependency on large analytics teams, streamlining operations and costs.

4. Delivering an outstanding subscriber experience to combat churn: Customer experience is a critical factor in retaining subscribers. A seamless streaming experience directly correlates with satisfaction and, ultimately, subscriber loyalty. AI has a pivotal role here as well by continuously monitoring and optimizing the quality of experience (QoE). AI tools can detect network issues or buffering risks early, preventing disruptions that can lead to subscriber dissatisfaction.

AI can also strengthen customer support by addressing common inefficiencies associated with traditional support mechanisms, such as long response times and impersonal interactions. AI-powered chatbots, for example, can handle a wide range of subscriber queries, improving first-contact resolution rates and freeing human agents to focus on more complex issues.

Over time, these chatbots learn from interactions, enhancing their effectiveness and personalization capabilities. In cases requiring human intervention, AI can support agents with data-driven insights, enabling them to provide faster, more personalized assistance. This combination of automation and intelligent support can enhance the subscriber experience, reduce frustration, and contribute to lower churn rates.

Bottom Line: Now Is the Time To Invest in AI for Sustained Growth
As we look ahead, AI has transitioned from a “nice-to-have” to a business imperative in the direct-to-consumer streaming landscape. The competitive environment demands solutions that not only attract new subscribers but also retain existing ones. By leveraging AI, broadcasters can take meaningful steps to mitigate churn, optimize marketing efforts, and elevate the subscriber experience. AI offers a clear path to safeguarding and growing revenue through strategic, data-driven approaches to customer engagement, retention, and satisfaction. Truly, the time to act is now.

LONDON—Consumers who subscribe to streaming services to watch a particular show, then cancel, only to resubscribe later, make up 42% of U.S. TV viewers, according to a new survey from Ampere Analysis. The same survey, however, showed that Disney subscribers who had previously churned and then returned (aka ‘resubscribers’) to take the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle are 59% less likely to churn within 12 months than those who take Disney+ alone.

This finding, Ampere says, suggests bundling streaming services will have a significant impact on the 42% who “regularly subscribe, cancel and resubscribe.”

Bundling of streaming services has become increasingly popular in recent weeks with Disney/Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast all beginning to offer multiple services through a single subscription. Ampere Consumer data indicates there is currently limited overlap in uptake between those services, suggesting great upsell and churn mitigation potential.

Ampere’s study indicates that the majority of those 42% skew younger (18-44 years old) and are more likely to be in family households. They are also avid media consumers, watching more TV and video each day, stacking more SVoD services, and consuming alternative media formats, such as video games and music services more frequently than the average US consumer. However, this wide media diet also means the cohort is 40% more likely than average to exhibit signs of "subscription fatigue" and 21% more likely to desire unified access to content across different services (known as "aggregation"). Ampere said.

Ampere said that in Q1, just 15% of the subscriber base of either Disney+, Hulu or Max currently take all three in the household, and just 10% of Comcast mobile, broadband and TV customers subscribing to Peacock, Netflix or Apple TV+ currently take all three. Therefore, there is a significant upsell opportunity for a wide audience, who will benefit from expanded content offered by bundled services at discounted rates, according to the researcher.

“As the SVoD market in the US has become increasingly saturated, new subscribers are harder to find, which makes retention all the more important,” said Daniel Monaghan, Research Manager at Ampere Analysis. “There is a sizeable group of consumers who frequently subscribe to SVoD platforms, cancel and resubscribe. Reducing this behaviour would boost platforms’ top and bottom lines. Analysis of Ampere data reveals that churn is far smaller for bundle-takers than non-bundle resubscribers for some offerings.

“For instance, resubscribers who took the Disney bundle in Q1 2023 were less than half as likely to churn within a year, compared to standalone Disney+ resubscribers,” Monaghan added. “We’re now seeing competing players following suit and joining forces to bundle their platforms, and our consumer data shows the overlap of uptake for those is currently very limited. This should stand them in good stead to both upsell their services and limit the churn of resubscribers and first-timers alike.”

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—As streamers wrestle with high churn rates, a new study from Hub Entertainment Research provides some insights into how companies can use better bundles to reduce the number of consumers who are canceling services and improve customer loyalty. 

The researchers noted that while “Bundling 2.0" is certainly back in fashion, crafting better bundles for savvy consumers who have more choices than ever before isn’t easy. 

Multiple streaming services are still needed to replicate the "all-in-one" of cable TV days of yore, and viewers increasingly worried about managing and keeping track of the monthly subscriptions hitting their credit cards are outpacing their ability to keep track, the researcher said. 

Another important factor, is the fact that the growth of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and more sports content migrating online continue to complicate the viewing landscape.  

While Hollywood is responding with new bundles from distributors (Comcast, Charter, others) and streamers (Disney, Netflix, Max, others), it remains an open question as to how well those efforts will work. 

Hub’s annual “Best Bundle” study tracks the services that form the foundation of consumers’ bundles, the ones that serve as add-ons, and how these metrics change over time. 

One key finding is that consumers use more than seven TV sources to juggle their viewing needs.

Hub's 2024 survey reveals that consumers are indeed pulling together more than a handful of TV sources - both traditional and digital - to get what they want.  In fact, this year saw a bounce back to an average of 7.4 services used, after a dip in 2023.

The number of viewers "stacking" three or more of the major streamers (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu & Max) grew to half of users in 2024, with even more growth coming from the nearly two-thirds of people using FAST services (like TUBI or Pluto) to round out their TV diet:

Juggling multiple services propels “revolving door” churn, the researchers argued. 

Despite growth in using multiple services, consumers aren't necessarily keeping them for the long term. "Revolving door churn" is seen in roughly a third of viewers who say they intend to both add and drop services in the next six months.  These people are chasing specific programs or a promotional deal and then cancel services until something else catches their eye.

Helping consumers bundle services in more meaningful ways will improve loyalty, the study found. 

Short-term subscriber mentality makes managing multiple services more challenging than ever and creates opportunities for studios to better bundle subscriptions.  Nearly three quarters of consumers find a service that could help to manage multiple subscriptions in one place as appealing. 

“Consumers are overwhelmed by the fragmented landscape of streaming services and are well-positioned to migrate to more streamlined solutions,” says Jason Platt Zolov, consultant for Hub. “New streaming bundles recently announced are a step in the right direction – and those which communicate a clear price/value solution will be well-positioned to help stabilize challenges with churn.”

Findings come from Hub’s 2024 “The Best Bundle” report, based on a survey conducted among 1,603 US TV consumers with broadband, age 16-74. Interviews were completed in early April 2024. A free excerpt of the findings is available on Hub’s website. This report is part of the “Hub Reports” syndicated report series.

DALLAS—Consumers who subscribe to streaming services are the least likely to cancel Prime Video among all major providers, according to Parks Associates’ Streaming Video Tracker, which found that Prime’s so-called “churn rate” is 8% while streaming service Discovery+ is nearly at 43%. 

Parks recently updated its Streaming Video Tracker, which now tracks churn data for 89 total services, of which 85 are SVOD services. Its most recent churn data is from its quarterly consumer survey of 8,000 internet households.

Prime’s unique position in the streaming universe (a “value-added” service for subscribers of Amazon Prime) is the reason for the low churn rate, according to Eric Sorensen, Director, Streaming Video Tracker, Parks Associates, who adds that streaming king Netflix is helping lower its churn rate by providing more subscription options and content. 

"Churn is part of the standard business model, but companies are working hard to minimize it and keep consumers engaged longer," said "Amazon Prime Video has held the lowest churn rate for the last two years because it is included with Prime; however, Netflix continues to creep closer and reduce churn by adding more tiers of service and syndicated content."

Streaming Video Tracker analyzes market trends and profiles for more than 300 over-the-top video services in the US and Canada. It also estimates subscribers, viewers, and transactional users for these OTT services, including those that do not publicly release customer figures.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY—New data from Horowitz Research indicates that the crackdown on password sharing and significant price hikes by major streaming companies is convincing many consumers to cancel or churn out of their subscription streaming services. 

It’s new State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Subscriptions 2024 report found that half of TV content viewers (52%) have canceled or lost access to at least one of their SVOD services within the past year. 

Among those who canceled or lost access within the past 12 months, the main reasons cited include efforts to cut subscription costs, recent price hikes, and perceived lack of value for the cost. Notably, for almost 3 in 10 viewers who canceled, not being able to share or borrow log-ins was a contributing factor.

The crackdowns and rising prices are also having an impact on consumers’ wallets: About one third (35%) of streamers surveyed report that they are paying more this year than they were last year for streaming services, and self-reported average spend on SVODs increased from $49.33 reported in the 2021 study to $60.60 in the 2024 edition of this report, the researchers reported. 

This is boosting interest in ad supported streaming services. Nearly 6 in 10 streamers (59%) expressed receptiveness to ads if it means paying less for their subscriptions. In fact, now that Netflix has been offering a $6.99 tier with ads, almost 1 in 3 streamers in the study who have Netflix say they are on the ad-supported tier of service.

The rising prices and the crackdown on password sharing is also likely to keep churn or cancelation rate high this year, the study found. Almost 1 in 4 (23%) streamers plan to cancel one or more of their SVODs in the coming months, an increase from 19% who intended to churn in 2023. Among those who plan to cancel, Netflix is the service most often mentioned as being on the chopping block.

“The economics of the streaming business demand that these companies crack down on password sharing in order to continue to deliver the great content audiences want,” notes Adriana Waterston, executive vice president of insights and strategy at Horowitz. “That said, given rising costs for streaming, consumers will become more and more judicious about how they are spending their money in the streaming ecosystem. To avoid churn, subscription streaming services will need to focus on smart windowing strategies to keep audiences consistently engaged with their content and be proactive about helping consumers downgrade to lower-priced and/or ad-supported tiers as soon as they see a subscriber’s viewership and engagement dropping.”

The full State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Consumer Subscriptions 2024 study tracks the evolution of the pay and free TV, streaming, internet, and mobile environment, including MVPDs, vMVPDs, SVODs, AVOD, FAST, OTA, and 5G. This study examines what services consumers pay for and use (and which ones they are sharing), how they are bundling traditional and new services, satisfaction with the services they have, and plans for the future. The survey was conducted in January-February 2024 among 2,202 TV content viewers 18+ who are heads of household. The survey was offered in English and Spanish. The report is available in total market, FOCUS Latinx, FOCUS Black, and FOCUS Asian editions.

More information about the State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Subscriptions 2024 report, is available here.  

DALLAS—Uh-oh. Streaming video service subscriber churn is approaching 50%, and an important measurement of customer satisfaction and loyalty has fallen below the high mark achieved during the pandemic, according to market research and consulting firm Parks Associates.

Streaming service providers are facing several challenges, including economic headwinds, pressure to prove their business models and decision-making regarding business ownership and revenue models, it said.

One example is Netflix, which registered an NPS of 55 in 2021 and now sees the value at 40, the company said.

"It is critical to build a loyal client base, deliver a great user experience, and provide unique services and content," said Eric Sorensen, director of Parks Associates’ Streaming Video Tracker. "NPS and churn can reveal which strategies achieve these goals. As new partnerships and ownership form in the industry, there are many metrics to track and review to understand the impact from previous quarters' efforts."

The researcher will examine churn, subscriber growth and Net Promoter Scores (NPS)—the measure of loyalty and satisfaction, during a webinar March 14 at 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time. 

The webinar also will offer insight on recent industry developments, such as the partnership between ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, consumer sentiment and viewing behavior, Parks Associates said.

To register for the webinar, visit the company’s website.

More information on its Stream Video Tracker is available online. 

A new research report from Antenna is confirming the widely held perception that the streaming business is entering a more mature phase with growth slowing and fickle consumers becoming more likely to cut services. 

The State of Subscriptions report from Antenna found that the SVOD industry grew by a healthy 10.1% in 2023, a growth rate that some media like broadcast TV would love to see. But that was less than half the growth seen in 2022, when subscriptions rose by 21.6%. 

The study also found that streaming companies were working harder for less growth. Antenna’s Weighted Average Churn reached 5.5% at the end of 2023, up 0.8 percentage points from the year prior. In 2023, the industry saw an increase of 19.3 million more gross additions than 2022 but there were 36.2 million more constellations than 2022, which translated into 17.0 million fewer net additions and slower growth. 

“Antenna sees the streaming video category entering a new era,” the researchers wrote in the report. “The previous stage was hyper-focused on acquisition – which made sense, as these new brands had to establish a mass audience. But now that the largest players have that scale (and the niche players have introduced themselves to their target audiences), they must shift their focus to managing their Subscribers.”

Total subscriptions were 242.9 million at 2023 with Peacock, Paramount+, and Netflix driving the most sub growth in 2023. Nexflix had 26% of all subscriptions, holding its share for the first time since 2019.

In addition to finding that the churn rate has almost tripled in four years, the data highlighted some important facts about those churners. 

Nearly a quarter (23%) fall into a category Antenna calls Serial Churners who have 3+ cancellations of a Premium SVOD Service in the past two years, up from 17% in 2022. 

Their data also found that 42% of Serial Churners have canceled a premium SVOD Service 5+ times in the past two years, and 19% have Canceled 7+ times. 

The study also found that many people are resubscribing, making win-backs an important strategy, with weighted average resubscribe rate increasing to 30.1% in 2023.

Serial Churners are also an increasingly important target for acquisition strategies, the study found. Serial Churners accounted for all of the growth in acquisition in 2023, driving 60.0 million gross additions in 2023, up +36.2% YoY. In contrast, gross additions by Non-Serial Churners fell -2.0% YoY to 99.5 million, the report found. 

The full report can be found here.  

A new survey by Forbes Advisor finds that the password sharing crackdown by streaming services is having an impact but that the practice is still widespread. 

In a new survey of 2,000 Americans, Forbes Advisor found that even though 33% of Americans report having to create their own streaming account after password crackdowns, another 56% say they are still sharing passwords. 

Consumers also reported widespread resistance to further price hikes and crackdowns with 90% claiming they would drop streaming services if they hike prices or crackdown on password sharing.

The report also found that streaming usage is now widespread and heavy, with Americans spending an average of 20 hours streaming content every week, which is the equivalent of a part-time job. 

For that content, people are spending an average of $552 on streaming services a year or $46 a month. Many also reported they have been hit by rising prices, with 44% report having their streaming subscriptions costs increase over the last year. 

The survey also broke down the likelihood of subscribers canceling specific services. People are most likely to cancel Disney+ (44%) if their prices increased or they enforced stricter password sharing rules—33% would cancel Netflix if prices increased or account sharing was enforced.

The survey also found that the number of people paying for streaming services has increased over the last year—96% pay for at least one streaming subscription in 2024 while only 86% paid for streaming services in 2023. 

See our report and full methodology here: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/internet/streaming-survey/

Streaming platforms are not immune to churn and new research identifies the top five platforms people may drop—with YouTube TV leading the list.

QR Code Generator Hub, an online QR generation service, conducted the study. It looked at search volumes in the United States using Google Keyword Planner to identify which service users wish to delete. The findings are based on combined average monthly search volume for terms like “how to unsubscribe from X” platform and “delete account X.”

YouTube TV led the list of services people wish to jettison with 35,494 monthly searches on terminating accounts. Netflix was next, with 10,160 monthly searches, followed by Hulu with 5,350, Crunchyroll with 5,150 and Disney + with 3,557.

“Our QR Codes are often used in TV content, which is why at QR Code Generator Hub we track the evolving TV and streaming landscape closely. The initial attraction of streaming platforms, promising limitless access to an array of content, has given way to a growing trend where users are actively reconsidering subscriptions,” said QR Code Generator Hub’s Jonathan Palley.

“Features such as the introduction of ads on paid accounts and regular price rises for premium subscriptions have led to many customers deciding to cancel their accounts.," he added. "These findings offer an interesting insight into which streaming services are losing the most customers, with YouTube TV taking the top spot." 

“Users who were initially drawn to streaming during the pandemic, now find a renewed interest in the allure of movie theaters since their reopening," he concluded. "In response to this evolving dynamic, subscribers are reevaluating their priorities, gravitating towards only the platforms that deliver the most exciting content at a justifiable price point.” 

More information is available on the company’s website. 

DALLAS—New data from Parks Associates highlights some of the difficulties facing both pay TV operators and streaming companies going into the new year. 

While pay TV video services were once available in over 80% of all U.S. homes, the latest update of Park’s Streaming Video Tracker reveals the ongoing adoption of streaming services has eroded the exclusive reliance of pay TV for video content to the point where just 5% of US internet households now only have a pay-TV service. 

However, the data also indicates that streaming services face their own problems with fickle consumers who jump or churn in and out of streaming subscription.

In the newest Parks data, the average annualized industry churn rate for streaming services is 50%, meaning many streaming services are also struggling to keep their customers.

"Sixty-five percent of internet households have a smart TV," said Eric Sorensen, director, Streaming Video Tracker, Parks Associates. "This platform interface serves as the entry point for many households to their content services. Competition for attention is extreme, while the continued rollout of the ATSC 3.0 standard gives viewers even more options, so in 2024, we will see increased consolidation, mergers, and acquisitions as all providers must find ways to innovate alongside the greater emphasis on profitability."

Researchers from Parks also noted that traditional telcos faced with pay TV sub losses are exploring new ways to get their products in front of streaming consumers with services such as Cox's Neighborhood TV. Cox is positioning this hyperlocal streaming service to expand its influences in its communities and as a gateway to attract consumers to its phone, internet, and TV bundle. Station groups such as Sinclair and Hearst have also launched local streaming services to leverage the consumer desire for local content in this age of streaming.

"The hyperlocal approach clearly attracts interest from consumers," Sorensen said. "With the increase of AVOD business models, consumer adoption indicates that relevance is a key factor, namely consumers are likely to turn off services if the service and messaging are repetitive and irrelevant to them. Even manufacturers recognize the need for personalization—for example, LG will be displaying its MyView smart monitors at CES 2024, which the company designed to deliver a personalized experience to the user."

The research firm will host the 18th annual CONNECTIONS Summit: Performance and Profits: Smart Home Strategies at CES on January 9, 2024, at the Venetian, Level 4, Marcello 4404, from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM in Las Vegas. 

CONNECTIONS Summit features six executive sessions and a fireside chat on "Smart Home Innovations" with Mark Benson, Head of Samsung SmartThings U.S., Samsung SmartThings. CONNECTIONS Summit concludes with a networking reception sponsored by Cox Communities.

With streaming services facing alarmingly high rates of consumers subscribing to a product and then churning out of it, Magid has released new data from its SubScape service that indicates those high churn rates hide a more important insight: Not all churn is the same and not all churn is bad. 

The company’s latest product SubScape is designed to offer prescriptive solutions for acquisition and retention in the ongoing streaming wars and is based on newly identified audience segments that reveal key insights about subscriber motivations and solutions for engagement. 

Developed by Magid’s Subscriber Science practice, SubScape defines, collects, and calculates proprietary SVOD (as well as AVOD and FAST) metrics that it says will help explain the “why” of churn and provide users with insights and data to predict outcomes, optimize stability and maximize profits in a highly competitive entertainment ecosystem. 

“The media industry is at an inflection point as savvy consumers are presented with an unending list of viewing options,” Brent Magid, CEO, and Kate Morgan, chief product officer and head of the Global Media, Entertainment and Games practice at Magid said in a joint statement announcing the first results from SubScape. “The battle for the acquisition and retention of churn-centric subscribers isn’t slowing down which is why leveraging SubScape’s granular, solution-based insights have been mission critical for our clients as they reimagine their streaming playbook for long term growth.”

Some of the topline metrics from the service are indeed alarming. The new service found that between January and October 2023, the top 20 streaming services, on average, experienced a subscriber loss of 8%  and a gain of 8% per month, realizing an average net growth of zero in the U.S. 

In addition to the alarming finding that 8% of subs drop a service in any given month, the new data also found that 40% on average said they may cancel or are likely to cancel the individual paid service used by their home in the next year. 

But the researchers stressed that a closer look at SubScape data indicates that not all churn is bad and that some attractive audience segments are predisposed to churn. 

Understanding the various audience segments can provide steamers with a competitive advantage and guide streamers toward increased market share and profitability, the researchers reported. 

More specifically, Magid breaks down the streaming audience into different segments that need to be approached and understood differently. These include: 

• Hypers, a high churn, high income segment that the researchers say is important for streamers looking to drive growth and word of mouth.  Of all the segments, Hypers score the highest on the following areas: 46% agree that “I have FOMO “fear of missing out” about certain shows”; 51% agree: ‘I like to post, like, share on social media about my favorite shows/actors”; when asked about the individual paid services used by their home, 55% of Hypers say they may cancel or are likely to cancel that service in the next year. 
• Another key segment is Loyalists, a high spending low churn segment.  Of all the segments, they are the most open to ads. Among this group 81% agree: “I’m fine watching some ads/commercials, if it saves me money”  
• Digitarians: A high churn segment with equal interest in video on social platforms like YouTube and TikTok, they’re free promotion seekers who do not represent a high ROI on marketing dollars. They are also the mostly likely segment (14%) to be in a free promotional period or borrow an account from another home
• Pragmatics: A smaller segment (just 10% of the population) that is nonetheless a critical revenue-driver for certain services with libraries that map to its emotional needs. In this segment, 70% agree: “I avoid watching ads/commercials as much as possible” (Tied with Hypers for the top score)
• Mainstreamers: A laggard segment, this low churn group is an important component of stability in a mature SVOD, but rarely strays beyond the top five services. Mainstreamers score as the lowest subscriber segment on the following questions: Only 24% agree: “I’m usually the first of my friends to try a new video service”; Only 25% agree: “I have FOMO “fear of missing out” about certain shows”; Only 24% agree: ‘I like to post, like, share on social media about my favorite shows/actors” (lowest subscribing segment); 77% intend to stick with a service for at least a year. 
• Inerts:  The oldest of six segments, with a lower interest in video overall, Inerts present the lowest opportunity to drive revenue. 

 Magid researchers argue that data from those segments indicates that “Not all churn is equal. There is a difference between `bad' churn vs `strategic' churn with the latter  consistent with strong long-term growth. While perceived service weakness may play a role in churn, churn is often fueled by a segment’s inherent volatility and the attitudes/behaviors that subscribers, like Hypers, bring with them, such as a fear of missing out (aka FOMO).  Services that consistently deliver culturally relevant content will attract these transient FOMOs.”

“Some high-churn segments show value in other ways,” Magid also reported. “With new content driving interest, a service’s vibrancy and health is in part measured by its appeal to some high-churn viewers. And one of these high-churn segments, Hypers, carry the most number of services at any given time and are also the best word-of-mouth drivers in a streamer’s customer base.”

The new data also indicated that AVOD is a significant time competitor to SVOD and that income and Churn don’t always go hand in hand. “Although it might seem counter-intuitive, having  less disposable household income isn’t always predictive of churn propensity,” the researchers said. “Hypers, the highest income SubScape segment, also has a high proclivity to churn.” 

This indicates that streamers are often looking at the wrong metrics. “Traditionally, average subscriber tenure and churn rates was an indicator of business health,” the researchers said. “But research suggests the more accurate metric is the number of total subscribed months (whether or not they’re contiguous), which recognizes that some subscribers who leave quickly also come back quickly.”  

More information is available here.

A new J.D. Power survey finds that consumer loyalty is much stronger for vMVPDs like YouTube TV, which J.D. Power calls “live streamers”, versus consumer loyalty towards traditional cable and satellite pay TV services. 

According to the latest J.D. Power data, the likelihood of live TV streaming (i.e. vMVPD) customers switching services in the next year is just 12%, while the likelihood of cable and satellite customers switching is 21%.

YouTube TV has also emerged as the highest rated pay TV services, with a rating of 795, beating out Hulu + Live TV (785), and Sling TV (772). 

For a sixth consecutive year, Dish ranks highest in the cable/satellite TV–national segment with a score of 709, followed by DirecTV at 705. 

Dish performed exceedingly well in two markets, as it ranks highest in the cable/satellite TV in both the U.S. North Central (699) and South (725) regions. Verizon Fios ranks highest in the East region, while DirecTV ranks highest in the West region (704). 

The J.D. Power researched noted that there were a multitude of factors driving the chasm between cable/satellite and streaming providers. The largest difference (156 points) was in the cost of service, with cable/satellite providers just not being able to compete on price with the live TV streamers. But live TV streaming providers also distinguished themselves from their cable/satellite counterparts in customer care (80 points), performance and reliability (64 points), and billing and payments (60 points), the survey found. 

Customer care was the area of largest year-over-year improvement for live TV streaming. Customers reported improvements across all care channels, including phone (+24 points); website (+17), and the streamer’s respective apps (+8). Hulu + Live TV has the highest customer care satisfaction score, with YouTube jumping into second thanks to a 49-point improvement. Overall, 30% of all streaming customers that contacted customer service this year, and 84% felt the provider made it somewhat or very easy to resolve their problem, the researchers said. 

The researchers also stressed that in the past, cable/satellite providers may have been the beneficiaries of their status as a legacy model that had a high degree of difficulty in switching or outright canceling. But improvements made in customer care have vaulted live TV streamers to a different level in terms of satisfaction and loyalty, and the subscribers that are on the fence about switching have taken note.   

Streamers have always been a more affordable choice, but there was always a trade-off in reliability and customer care. Now, with streamers succeeding in all areas, cable and satellite providers have no choice to step up their game and rise to the occasion, the researchers said. If they don’t, they run the very real risk of fading into the background faster than anyone anticipated. 

This Technology, Media, and Telecom Intelligence Report is based on responses from 23,584 customers and was fielded from October 2022 through August 2023. It was authored by Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media, and telecom intelligence at J.D. Power.

A new survey from TransUnion indicates that Gen Z consumers are the most fickle generation when it comes to streaming subscriptions with 30% of them canceling more than one service in the last six months and another 30% telling researchers they had canceled one service. 

That was lower than all respondents to the TransUnion survey, which found that 24% of consumers had canceled on service and 15% had canceled more than one. About 32% of millennials had canceled one service and 18% had canceled more than one. 

Only 31% of Gen Z consumers said they had not canceled a service in the last six months, compared to 47% of all respondents and 40% of millennials. 

The most common reason for canceling were price hikes, with 52% of all respondents, 43% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials saying they got rid of a subscription service after it increased pricing. 

Other common reasons for canceling were finishing a movie or TV show they could only get on the service (29% of all respondents), when they felt the service wasn’t adding new content (28%) and when they were given access to another person’s login credentials (17%). 

There were also notable differences among age groups in terms of ad supported services. About one third (34%) of all respondents, 29% of Gen Z and 40% of millennials said all their subscription services had ads while 51% of Gen Z, 46% of millennials and 44% of all respondents said some of their services had ads. Only 14% of millennials, 21% of Gen Z and 22% of all respondents said that none of their subscription streaming services had ads. 

The online survey of 3,000 adults aged 18 and older were conducted between Sept. 27 and October 2023. Gen Z includes people born 1995–2005; Millennials are those both 1980–1994. 

New research from Antenna highlights the fact that the SVOD streaming market in the U.S. is growing increasingly mature with a growing proportion of new subscribers belonging to a category the researchers call “serial churners” who regularly cancel one streaming service and move to different SVOD services. 

The data is notable because it has many implications for how subscription marketers manage the complexities of subscriber “acquisition” and “churn.” 

Working with Adobe on a custom analysis to better understand subscribers and their path from one service to another, the new Antenna data indicates that a significant portion of SVOD subscribers “switch” (i.e. cancel one service and subscribe to another), “resubscribe” (i.e. cancel one service, but resubscribe to that same service later on), and “manage plans” (i.e. move across ad-supported and ad-free tiers, or standalone to bundled tiers). 

“These behaviors are of critical importance for operators to understand, as they can reveal clues for how to best market to consumers in an effort to bolster lifetime value (LTV)," of a subscriber Brendan Brady, media and entertainment lead at Antenna explained in a blog post. 

The research found that more than one-third of users who canceled a Premium SVOD service between Q1’21 and Q1’22 were “won-back” 12 months later. Nearly a quarter of these users were “won-back” within three (3) months after canceling. 

However, the loyalty profile of users can vary significantly across lifetimes, Brady wrote. 

“In aggregate, users who subscribed to a Premium SVOD service for the first time between Q1’21 and Q1’22 had a 12 month survival rate of 45%,” he wrote. “That survival rate dropped -9pts to 36% for users on their second lifetime, and -19pts to 26% for users on their third or more lifetime.”

The research also found that a rapidly growing portion of new subscribers is driving by those “serial churners.” In 2023, Antenna is reporting that about one third of new signups come from serial churners, up from only 10% ini 2019. 

Antenna and Adobe will be co-presenting more findings about subscriber behavior, emerging segments of users, and the nuances associated with these dynamics at the “Adobe Experience Makers Webinar: Understanding the Streaming Subscriber Journey” on Tuesday, October 24th at 10:00 AM PT | 1:00 PM ET.

DALLAS—In a recently released analysis and survey of the video services landscape, Parks Associates is providing some alarming numbers on how quickly consumers are switching and canceling streaming services. The research shows the average annualized subscriber churn rate for streaming video services now stands at 47%.

The top driver of service cancellations is the desire to save money – 29% of Internet households say they cancel a service to save money. Finishing a show is the next most popular reason.

Other popular reasons also included economic factors. The ending of a promotion price was the fourth most cited reason for canceling and price hikes were number five. 

"Consumer focus on price and content underscores the pivotal role of value in consumer decision-making," said Sarah Lee, research analyst, Parks Associates. "When high-quality content is absent, subscriber churn becomes inevitable, making content diversity a cornerstone of profitable growth, along with consideration of pricing."

Rapid changes in viewer behaviors, coupled with the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, emphasize the content conundrum in today's video services market, the researchers said.

The study also noted that a steady flow of scripted content is pivotal to viewer engagement, but it is costly and prone to disruption. Providers need to align content strategies with evolving viewer demands and greater emphasis on financial returns, which accounts for the recent rise of Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) and Advertising-Based Video on Demand (AVOD) services. Disney recently announced increases for premium Disney+ and Hulu subscription services, while offering ad-supported service bundles at highly discounted levels.

"Video Services: Shifting Demand," research based on a survey of 10,000 US internet households, investigates the dynamics of traditional pay-TV, streaming TV, and OTT services, dissecting subscription, ad-based, and transactional business models and provides insights into retaining subscribers and boosting revenue 

Parks Associates will feature this research along with executive insight on industry trends the at the sixth annual Future of Video, hosted at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, CA, on November 14-16, 2023. 

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—Amid growing signs that the era of “peak TV” may be coming to an end, a new survey from Hub indicates that many consumers are now either at or near their maximum number of TV sources, and are not actively looking to spend more money on video entertainment.

The Hub’s annual “Monetization of Video” survey found that nearly half (43%) of those surveyed are already at what they claim is the maximum number of services they want, which is an average of seven TV sources. Among the one third of viewers who have not yet reached their limit, the survey found that seven services is also the optimal number of services. 

“The video ecosystem is clearly at an inflection point. Gone are the days when providers could reliably count on revenue growth from new subscribers,” said Mark Loughney, senior consultant to Hub. “This leads to a quandary: how to deliver the volume of content necessary to keep subscribers loyal, while at the same time controlling production costs. Reconciling this dilemma will be the key to long term success in the video marketplace.”

The good news for providers is consumers are still spending more: Nearly half of consumers (44%) say they are spending more on TV than a year ago, and that’s up from 34% who said the same in 2020. This is despite the fact their actual average spend of $85 per month is 25% more than what they consider “reasonable” for video services, the Hub survey found. 

The bad news is the highest spenders are the most likely to churn: The more subscriptions a household has, the more likely they are to cancel a new subscription within 6 months of acquiring it. The majority of those with 4 or more subscriptions say they canceled a new service within six months.

Another key finding is that consumers are looking for value: While low price is the strongest driver of the value of a particular video service, it is not the only thing consumers include when considering value. They also want price stability, and for a service to have a large library of content, the researchers said. 

The survey also found that bundling SVODs with MVPD subscriptions provides value: Among the substantial segment of consumers who do not have an MVPD subscription, two thirds say integrating SVODs into an MVPD (i.e.. traditional pay TV) set-top-box would make a Pay TV service more valuable to them (up from 59% last year). In an environment characterized by subscription churn, such bundles could serve to reduce cancellations.

These findings are from Hub’s 2023 “Monetization of Video” report, based on a survey conducted among 1,602 US consumers with broadband, age 16-74, who watch at least 1 hour of TV per week. Interviews were conducted in June 2023 and explored consumers’ attitudes toward what they pay for TV services, and the value delivered by providers.  A free excerpt of the findings is available on Hub’s website. This report is part of the “Hub Reports” syndicated report series.

DALLAS—Market research firm Parks Associates is reporting that churn rates for streaming video remain remarkably high but haven’t gotten worse, with the churn rate for OTT video services holding steady at 47%.

Parks Associates also reported that only 37% of households subscribing to OTT services in the past year went directly through a service provider.

Coupled with the already high churn rates, that means streaming services face an increasingly complex landscape for attracting new subscribers, with large numbers of people subscribing outside the streaming service’s own platform. 

"There is so much to talk about - direct subscription has been losing ground to aggregation, and bundling is becoming more important," said Jennifer Kent, VP, Research, Parks Associates.

To address some of those issues, Parks has announced the topics for its sixth annual Future of Video, hosted at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, CA, November 14-16, 2023. 

A new survey of U.S. consumers by Reviews.org provides some good news for pioneering services like Netflix while highlighting some serious problems for the overall industry regarding subscription fatigue, password sharing and fickle subscribers who are cancelling subscriptions at alarming rates.  

On the positive side, some pioneering streaming services continue to maintain consumer interest despite growing streaming subscription fatigue. About 43% of U.S. consumers named Netflix as the service they would choose if they could only have one service, more than double those choosing Prime Video (17%), Hulu (16%), Peacock (8%), HBO Max (7%), and Paramount+ (5%). 

As streaming choices over the past 2 years have exploded, the survey also found that consumers are overwhelmed with choice – and not just from the amount of content itself, but the amount of streaming subscriptions to choose from. 

That helped convince 39% to cancel a service in the last six months and 55% to subscribe to a new service. Top reasons for canceling were cutting back on monthly expenses (44%), followed by not watching enough (37%), using a different streaming service more often (9%) and favorite shows no longer available (6%). 

While Netflix was the most valued service, it was also the most canceled, with 21% reporting that they had dropped their subscription in the last six months. Hulu was the second most dropped (20%), followed by Peacock (14%) and HBO Max (13%). 

Password sharing also remains rampant, with nearly two in four reporting that they shared a login. 

The complete report is available here. 

NEW YORK—The free-ad-supported streaming platform Tubi is reporting rapid growth in its viewing and audiences for 2022, with a 44% bounce in total viewing time, more than 5 billion streaming hours and 64 million monthly average users. 

Tubi’s annual audience report also included survey data showing that 57% of those surveyed plan to cut paid TV and video services and that the average person is looking to cut 3 out of 5 of their existing video services. About 1 in 4 respondents think the future of streaming will include free services with limited ads.

"As subscription costs continue to rise, nearly 1 in 3 streamers plan to reduce spending on streaming services this year," said Mark Rotblat, chief revenue officer, Tubi said in a statement as the streamer issued its annual audience report, “The Stream 2023: Actionable Audience Insights for Brands.” "With consumers turning to AVOD to complement the select SVOD services they choose to keep, Tubi offers a brand-safe environment for advertisers looking to tap into an incremental, young, diverse, and highly engaged streaming audience."

The research also found that Tubi's audience continues to be young and increasingly diverse. African American and LGBT audiences grew over 50% in 2022, and audience growth exceeded 25% in each major level of household income and the Hispanic demo - according to MRI. 

Additionally, Tubi's core younger demographic remains strong - more than 1 in 3 (36%) Tubi streamers are between the ages of 18 and 34. 

Tubi is owned by Fox. 

Other key findings from the report include: 

• Cord cutting continues and CTV ad spend is on the rise: 3 out of 4 consumers agree that AVODs are a practical alternative to cable and satellite TV. As CTV advertising continues to grow, funding isn't just coming from linear budgets - this year significant digital video, social media, OOH, and traditional media dollars shifted to CTV.
• SVODs curbing password sharing may increase churn: 35% of streamers access other people's digital video streaming services and 45% of streamers want to stream without having an account. SVODs aim to curb these losses by charging accounts shared across multiple households, which is expected to increase churn.
• Effective content and recommendations drive viewer satisfaction: Tubi identified five types of streamers in its research. From "recommendation seekers" to "genre-focused browsers," they all share the same 3 drivers of satisfaction: "a good mix" of content, effective recommendations, and seamless navigation. When it comes to ease of use, the bar is higher for AVOD - 34% of streamers expect ease of use in SVODs while it jumps to 59% for FAST/AVOD.
• Viewers prefer light ad loads and standard ad formats: 51% of streamers are satisfied with 6 minutes of ads per hour. While streaming services experiment with new ad formats, Tubi found that standard video ads are currently preferred by streamers over other formats such as split screen, interactive, or QR code ads.
• Diverse and unreachable audiences drive AVOD spend: As advertisers evaluate the state of streaming TV, more ad dollars are being dedicated to streaming buys than ever before - 4 out of 5 advertisers now regard advertising on streaming television as highly valuable. Growth in monthly active users, the presence of otherwise hard to reach young and multicultural streamers, and the ability to reach hard to find audiences were cited as key drivers for AVOD ad spend.

JERICO, N.Y.—As media companies worry about the possibility of an upcoming recession and the problems that might create for their ad revenue in 2023, a new survey from PCH Consumer Insights highlights another major threat to the media ecosystem—the problem of cost conscious consumers canceling subscriptions.

The PCH Media’s Year of Living Dangerously report, which surveyed over 27,000 Americans, found that 93% of current media subscribers are at risk of moving, swapping or canceling their platform subscriptions each month with every billing cycle.

"Our research shows that subscription-based media platforms face a new era of uncertainty as consumers reassess their entertainment options each month,” said Smriti Sharma, head of consumer insights at Publishers Clearing House. "We are now living in an age of ‘nomading,’ where consumers are more willing to switch between subscriptions, pay more to get fewer ads, or pay less for more ads. Regardless of income or age, consumers are actively searching for ways to get the most out of their entertainment subscriptions.”

The survey comes at a time when major media platforms across all sectors are repacking offers, reducing pricing, and remodeling to maximize profit and explores consumer plans for their media subscriptions for audio, TV, gaming, sports and news in 2023. 

One key finding was that only 7% percent of consumers who answered the survey intend to stay subscribed to their current media services on a month-to-month basis. 

Additional significant findings include the following:  

• Cutting Back to The Basics: Out of the over 27,000 survey responses, 30 percent of all consumers across all media say they intend to cut back to the bare necessities in the coming year. Even homes with household incomes of $150-249K are among those with the greatest likelihood of subscribing less and switching platforms. 
• 1 in 10 Loyal Subscribers Still Making the Switch: Even among the most committed subscribers, only one in ten say they intend to stay with their current entertainment subscriptions this year. These consumers are still reassessing monthly, switching as needed, and cutting back to the necessities, even with a track record of platform loyalty. This leaves just seven percent of media subscribers in the safe zone for platform consumption. 
• A Complicated Landscape with Free Services and Ad-Supported Tiers: Media consumers most willing to pay a premium to avoid ads are also the most likely to cancel and swap subscriptions monthly. More than a third say they will downgrade their subscriptions to pay less and get more ads. In contrast, 1 in 4 consumers now plan to spend more to see fewer ads in 2023. The arrival of cheaper, ad-supported tiers on premium platforms, combined with the recent rise of free services, seems to have complicated and accelerated the “nomading” of media subscriptions. Yet 41 percent indicate they will vary their payment preferences depending on the content they want to watch.
• Consumer “Attitudes” are fluid: With regards to advertising personalization, the complications continue. 35% of consumers say they dislike the use of their data to personalize ads, while 11% see ad personalization as a benefit to their experience. Yet 54% express no preference at all, demonstrating both a challenge and opportunity for those in the digital ad business.

All this adds up to the finding that America’s media subscription consumers do not see content choices as binary or simple, the researchers reported. 

The data clearly shows today’s streaming subscribers are constantly, actively seeking better options. Regardless of which kind of content is streamed, which demographics services strive to serve, or which motivations move subscribers to sign-up, swap, or cancel, 93 percent of all media subscribers are now at risk with every billing cycle. In 2023, streamers and content platforms must get comfortable with complexity and meet the modern media consumer’s demands, the report concluded. 

LONDON—As SVoD services in the US mature, pricing and bundling are key to retention, according to a recent report by Ampere Analysis. Newer platforms (including Disney+) tend to have higher levels of both sign-up and churn as they rely more heavily on individual title launches, while established SVoD platforms’ sign-up and churn rates are much more affected by pricing changes, Ampere said.

Ampere’s latest analysis shows that bundling is key to help mitigate price sensitivity, with Hulu and Disney+ having both benefitted in terms of sign-up and churn from the strength of the Disney Bundle.

With U.S. SVoD homes now having access to an average of 4.5 streaming services, newer SVoD players are continuing to see strong gross additions to their subscriber base. But the increasingly saturated SVoD market presents growing challenges for established services to maintain success, according to Ampere. As U.S. consumers edge closer to the stacking “ceiling,” attracting new subscribers and mitigating churn is more important than ever.

Because of this, retention is becoming a key battleground—for all SVoD platforms, leavers are primarily in younger, lower-income demographics, who are more sensitive to pricing and content offering. Discounted ad-supported tiers will mitigate churn here.

Another option to address price sensitivity is bundling. Hulu’s US sign-up and cancellation rates now mimic those of Disney+, as its users increasingly purchase their subscription through the bundle. Almost one third (32%) of Hulu subscribers have bundled with Disney+.

Pricing is key for established players, while new services rely on regular content releases, Ampere said. Disney+ uses franchise title releases and its first live broadcast to drive sign-ups. 

The first large peak in daily sign-ups seen on Sept. 8, 2022 corresponds with Disney+ Day, an annual event that marks the release of exclusive premieres and the announcement of upcoming content. This year’s Disney+ Day saw the release of big franchise titles including Thor: Love and Thunder, Pinocchio, and Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return. The next large peaks fall on Sept. 19, 2022, with the premiere of season 31 of Dancing with the Stars, and on Sept. 30, 2022, with the release of Hocus Pocus 2.

“The increasingly competitive SVoD market makes it hard for established services to maintain growth, while newer players continue to see strong gross additions but struggle to retain those customers,” said Mayssa Jamil, analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Pricing and content offering being the main drivers for sign-up and churn, a great way to aid customer retention is through bundling: it combines both of the above by offering larger catalogues and more frequent content additions at cheaper prices. We see this at play when looking at the way Hulu and Disney+ sign up and churn rates increasingly mimic one another thanks to the strength of the Disney Bundle.”

DALLAS—A new Parks Associates whitepaper has found that consumers have limited loyalty to streaming services, with nearly half (48%) of OTT subscribers hopping between services, outside of Netflix, multiple times over a 12-month period. 

The “Optimizing Video, Enhancing Content Performance for OTT Success” whitepaper, released in partnership with SymphonyAI Media, examines the current state of the competitive streaming video market and the benefits of implementing data-driven solutions able to handle today's complex revenue models.

The study is the latest example of how fickle consumers are creating headaches for streamers looking to expand their sub base in an increasingly saturated and competitive streaming market. 

“Consumers are experimenting across new services, so content sellers and streaming services must ensure that relevant, engaging content is presented to subscribers,” said Thomas Schaeffer, senior contributing analyst, Parks Associates. “The lack of insight into content performance is a major hindrance to monetization, and the ability to get that insight has implications for an offering's bottom line.”  

“The rapid adoption of hybrid ad-supported and subscription revenue streams forces media organizations to reconcile complex data sources, formats, and requirements,” said Mark Moeder, CEO of SymphonyAI Media. “Deriving insight from this new data ecosystem gives content sellers and service providers clarity around the value of the content they seek to monetize.”  

The whitepaper also reports 48% of subscribers cited content or a specific program as the primary motivation to subscribe to a new service. 

That is making content performance data an increasingly valuable asset as media organizations try to continuously assess, demonstrate, and predict the value of a service’s catalog within the licensing ecosystem, the researchers said. 

“Considering the dynamic nature of the media and entertainment industry, content analytics solutions are essential for content sellers and streaming services to optimally monetize content in a complex revenue ecosystem,” said Jennifer Kent, vice president of research, Parks Associates.

This whitepaper is available for download here.  

Fickle subscribers dropping SVOD services continue to be a major problem for the streaming industry, with new research showing there were 32 million subscription cancellations of subscription video streaming services in Q3 2022 among the 10 major SVOD services tracked by Antenna. 

That slowed overall SVOD subscription growth to 2.5% in Q3 versus Q2. The sluggish Q3 growth was however better than Q2, which was up only 1.5%, the smallest increase Antenna has seen since starting to track the market in 2019. 

“Antenna has long highlighted Churn as a crucial dynamic in the SVOD industry,” explained Jonathan Carson, co-founder and chair in a blog post analyzing the data, who noted that the 32 million cancellations in Q3 was significantly up from the two previous quarters when they were running at about 28 million during each quarter. 

“The Average Monthly Churn rate for the Premium SVOD category reached 5.8% in September," he said. "To put this in perspective, category Churn in 2021 was 4.5%; in 2020 it was 4.0%; and in 2019 it was 3.2%.”

“Historical Churn data becomes even more insightful when analyzed at the Service level,” Carson added. “Antenna previously documented a meaningful uptick in Netflix Churn following its last price increase in January 2022. In fact, Netflix’s Average Monthly Churn was up again in Q3, to 3.5% from 3.4% in Q2, and 2.0% in 2021.”

Carson stressed however that the problem of churn varied significantly between different players.

Services that have launched in the past three years since the so-called “streaming wars” began like Apple TV+, Discovery+, Disney+, and Peacock all have had fairly stable churn levels since their launch periods.

Another group which is made up of legacy linear brands like HBO, Showtime and Starz have also seen relatively stable churn rates in part due to their long experience of intense competition with each other. 

SVOD originals like Hulu, Netflix and Paramount Plus were initially “so differentiated in that less competitive market that they had significantly lower Churn than they face today,” Carson argued. “As the market became more competitive, however, the differentiation was more difficult for consumers to identify and the average monthly Churn rates rose accordingly: from 3.7% in 2020 to 4.7% thus far in 2022 for Hulu; from 4.9% to 6.4% for Paramount+; and from 1.9% to 3.3% for Netflix.”  

“All in all, competition in SVOD will only intensify in the future, so having a robust understanding of what impacts Churn and the strategies available to minimize it will continue to be critical for all market players,” he concluded. 

‍Details on Antenna’s methodology and metric definitions are available here.

DENVER—Buffering video and poor-quality video can cost streaming services dearly—as much as $390 million per month, according to research from Bitmovin, a streaming infrastructure and adaptive streaming player developer.

Poor quality video and buffering can be dealbreakers as U.S. streaming subscribers get a little pickier about their streaming subscriptions, especially in the midst of belt tightening, the company said. Nearly half (47%) said they have unsubscribed due to buffering. The research also found 27% said they would drop service due to poor video quality.

Bitmovin estimated the lost monthly revenue being as much as $390 million a month based on there being 122.3 million U.S. households, 85% of which subscribe to at least one streaming service. These subscribers pay an average monthly subscription fee of $7.99, with nearly half dropping subscriptions due to buffering. 

Subscribers will consider cancelling service when their buffering wait reaches 13.5 seconds on average. However, subscribers are more tolerant with certain types of content. For example, religious content subscribers said they would consider cancelling if waits exceed 15.5 seconds on average; eSports and eLearning, 15.4; and paid-for streaming services after 14 seconds, the research found.

Males were less tolerant of buffering than females. Male subscribers to paid services said they would tolerate only 13 seconds of buffering before contemplating cancellation, while female subscribers would put up with buffering for 14.9 seconds, it said.

With OTT services like Netflix announcing an ad-supported tier, the research polled people on their reaction. It found that on average 68% would happily pay a little bit extra for a subscription to not encounter advertising. That number climbs to 78% among 18-to-35-year-olds. A total of 58% will tolerate ads on free streaming services.

Among the other research findings: 25% of Americans value the ability to use streaming services across all devices and chose that as one of their three top reasons to keep subscribing; and connected TVs (CTVs) are the primary viewing platform at 67%; mobile phones are second at 49%, laptops third at 25%, and tablets came in last at 23%.

“We are in an era of technology-driven experiences, and so, within this tech-savvy generation, streamers need to go above and beyond just offering entertaining content. The consumer, especially when paying for these services, also wants a seamless and enjoyable experience. Streamers need to realize that it’s not just great content that will help them win out but also top-notch delivery of its content,” said Bitmovin CEO and founder Stefan Lederer.

An external research agency conducted the research and provided results from 2,000 U.S. respondents, the company said.

Cost-consciousness is on the rise in the face of economic uncertainty. As businesses that rely on subscription revenue examine budgets and fiscal goals for 2023, subscription video on demand (SVOD) and cable TV providers need to carve out room for ad-supported revenue to be part of their strategy. 

The free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) markets are large. FAST is expected to generate $6 billion in ad revenue by 2025. With the media sector in turbulence as viewers reassess their viewing options and spending habits, ad revenues promise to alleviate pressure from shrinking subscription revenue growth rates. 

Currently, there are more than 1,400 FAST channels available from major OTT and linear companies including Disney, Paramount, BBC, and A&E. But it’s unlikely that the growth the sector has seen, especially since the start of the pandemic in 2020, will continue without some failures. SVOD faces the same challenges.

Media organizations should be planning for rapid change in 2023. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s how quickly viewing habits can change — for better or worse.To maintain diversified content offerings and manageable prices for wallet-conscious consumers, revenue models must balance both cost and profit.

Churn vs.  Monetization
SVODs have massive viewership numbers, but threats loom. Growth rates haven’t managed to reach pre-pandemic levels seen through 2019, and decreased slightly in 2021. Parks Associates recently reported that the SVOD industry average churn rate was about 45 percent—and was likely to increase as subscribers cut costs in today’s uncertain economic climate. Viewers will stick around if they perceive value. That means fresh, relevant, diverse content. For some SVODs to achieve that, they will need to revamp offerings.

Partnering with FAST providers is one potential strategy. There are multiple ways to monetize FAST: channels can be licensed to SVODs, branded to be “presented by” an SVOD. More prominent listings on users’ screens could be offered to FAST companies willing to partner with SVODs. SVODs get more content, and FASTs have new ways to reach bigger audiences. 

Amazon’s Freevee platform has partnered with FAST channels like Fuse Media’s Fuse Backstage and Fuse Beat, for example. Fox is running three FAST channels on the Amazon news app on Fire TV, too.  The numbers suggest that combining the strengths of both services is a viable approach not only for survival, but also for growth. While the largest SVOD platforms boast far higher engagement than individual FAST services, FASTs still have significant offerings. Pluto alone accounts for 5.1 billion minutes, and all FAST services combined account for more minutes than subscription offerings, according to Barclay's Kannan Venkateshwar.

Today’s economic and user trends suggest FAST is closing this gap quickly, and a recession will most likely provide additional accelerant. Though services are protective of user data, the steady growth of channels and platforms suggests the FAST pie is steadily growing. With 87 percent of US homes now using smart TVs, potential FAST  accessibility is nearing a saturation point. 

The Importance of UX
Making the services more user friendly while expanding and differentiating viewing options is among the key challenges facing all FAST players. FAST has done wonders for legacy content owners and will continue to be a favorite destination for news, sports, and niche content. But there’s huge opportunity for mainstream genres such as scripted series. Original, written programming boomed during the pandemic and will continue to grow, FX CEO John Landgraf recently argued.

Smart cross-branding with SVOD and even linear TV can turn FAST channels into revenue engines. There is tremendous opportunity for FAST services that offer one-of-a kind content, given that content overlap for FAST services is about 80 percent compared to around four percent for Disney+ and nine percent for HBO Max, per Barclay’s Venkateshwar.

User experience will also improve in the months and years to come. While some users may enjoy the familiar feel of scrolling through channels, these are not your parents’ TV listings. With nearly two dozen services, each with hundreds of channels, locating any particular channel can be daunting. Searchable and customized user interfaces similar to SVOD platforms, on the other hand, will help FAST services capitalize on their free, no-barrier entry.

The Importance of Data
Data will play a critical role in these synergies between SVOD and FAST moving forward, and in determining which services and channels rise to the top. 

FAST channels provide instant data on content performance, enabling near-real-time tweaks on content strategies. Because SVODs know the content types that their audience likes, they’ll already have a sense for what content and channels they’d like to partner on. FAST’s real-time data insights can bolster those insights further, a value-add that FAST providers should use to their advantage in negotiations. 

There is also a tremendous opportunity for lead generation, which can be crucial to combatting inevitable churn. SVODs can precisely target audiences based on their FAST choices, catering their products and messaging to those free users most likely to become loyal, paid subscribers.

Furthermore, with the support of AI and machine learning, media and entertainment company leaders can generate data that will help uncover underutilized revenue streams as FAST offerings are incorporated into SVODs.

The magic of AI is its ability to see unknown unknowns — those patterns and trends that humans aren’t looking for. As more viewers flock to FAST services, they will provide ever-increasing data on what cost-conscious consumers are looking for and how streaming services can keep them engaged. But much of this information will remain hidden to companies that don’t invest in the tech tools to see it. 

In 2023, there’s a natural opportunity for SVODs to incorporate FAST into their programming. Smart SVODs will be carving out the needed money for that investment — and will be happy to see the audience, advertising, and revenue growth that come with it.

Mark Moeder is CEO of SymphonyAI Media

LONDON—New research is providing some insights into the people who drop streaming services and then move to another service. According to a new study from Ampere Analysis, Apple TV+ and Paramount+ are the most widely chosen platforms for SVOD switchers.

Ampere defines that group as those who move from one subscription service and commit to another contract within 60 days. 

“This sub-group of churning streamers are particularly interesting because they represent customers who, rather than simply adding a new service on to their existing in-home bundle, are deliberately transferring spend from one to another,” explained report author and analyst at Ampere Analysis Ben French. “As such it shows where each platform needs to look for its direct competition. Switchers are experimenting with different platform mixes within the home, moving spend to some of the newer and less penetrated services while maintaining a core base of services. It’s some of these newer, smaller services that the incumbent streamers most need to keep an eye on.”

Of all switchers across all platforms analyzed by Ampere Analysis, 11% choose Apple TV+ and an equal proportion selected Paramount+. Netflix was third choice for the group.

The study, which looks at the 27-month period between Q1 2020 and Q1 2022, shows not only which competitors are most likely to take direct spend from each U.S. streaming service (because switchers are specifically moving their spend from one service to another), but also how existing in-home service choices impact the direction of switching platform. 

Apple TV+ is the first choice for Netflix deserters, but Prime Video and Hulu are close seconds. The report also found that those leaving Netflix have been less adventurous in trying new services than switchers from other streaming services: they currently have the lowest number of streaming services among leavers from any of the major platforms.

The researchers also found that providers with a family of streaming services benefit from the bundling effect in terms of cross-promotion, greater average revenue per user opportunities and customer retention. The advantages are especially clear for Disney+. The most popular next service for Disney+ switchers is its sister platform Hulu. Similarly, Hulu switchers' first choice is a Disney+ subscription.

A similar effect is also seen among Paramount+ churners. While Apple TV+ is the first choice and Netflix the second, switchers choose Showtime (owned by Paramount) as their third choice, the researchers found. 

Overall, around 30% of streaming subscribers switch services in any given two-month period. Of users who leave a service, just over half (56%) choose not to re-subscribe or switch to a new service within two months. However, 14% of customers leaving a platform return within two months, and this boomerang behavior reduces effective churn rate, the report found. 

Netflix leavers are most likely to boomerang: 23% of its churners resubscribe within two months. The comparable rates for other services are 11% for Disney+ and Hulu, 10% for Apple TV+, and 15% for both HBO Max and Paramount+.

The analysis also shows that higher-spending high-stack households are engaging in 'dipping' - moving in and out of services higher up the stack. Smaller services are currently being taken in homes that are already avid SVOD watchers and chasing more variety. By contrast, those with only one or two streaming services are content (for now) with the major providers and tend to move between the big two or three streaming choices.

 PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.—A new survey from The NPD Group has found that consumers are more worried about the cost of streaming services than they were last fall, with cost going from being the #4 reason for canceling a subscription video on demand (SVOD) service in October of 2021 to #2 in April of 2022. 

The latest TV Switching Study from NPD also found that consumers are also increasingly signing up for services based on promotional or discounted offers.

“In the last several months consumers have had to navigate rising prices in many facets of their lives and SVOD services are part of that mix with companies like Netflix and Amazon raising their subscription rates,” said John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst at NPD. “While cost considerations in SVOD services are still dramatically lower than in cable and satellite TV, it is important for providers to recognize that price sensitivity is growing so they can adjust their offerings to retain their subscriber base.”  

As of April 2022, promotional offers and discounted fees were more heavily influencing not only if consumers signed up for a SVOD service, but also their preferred method of sign-up (e.g., direct from the provider). In the survey period, the #1 reason cited for SVOD users signing up for a service was because of a free trial offering. At the same time, promotion/discount offers became the top reason driving the preferred sign-up method, moving up four spots from October 2021 (among viewers extremely or very likely to subscribe to a SVOD service in the next six months). 

But while price and promotions/discounts play increasingly important roles, content remains critical to consumers, the researchers said. 

Knowing that a specific TV show or movie was on a service drove one-third of SVOD users to sign-up, an increase versus six months ago, driven by younger viewers (up six percentage points).

“Consumers are creating a value equation to determine what services they ‘need’ versus those they cancel, especially as they return to experiential activities,” added Buffone. “For some consumers ad supported tiers can be a way to cut costs without losing access to content. As we look to the future – including potential AVOD offerings from Netflix and Disney – understanding the differing consumer value propositions will be key in determining tier structure and pricing strategies.”

At a time when many companies are rushing into ad-supported services, the survey highlighted the fact that consumers are more engaged and more likely to use an ad free service. 

When pricing tiers are available, survey results indicate that a customer who pays a premium for an ad-free experience is engaging with the service more frequently with 28% reporting using the service every day or most days vs. 20% of the ad-supported subscribers reporting the same. Consumers that pay a premium for ad-free viewing also place significantly more value in content availability, exclusivity, search, discovery, and user interface, indicating they are a more engaged consumer, the researchers said. 

The results of the NPD Group’s Connected Intelligence TV Service Switching Study are based on online consumer surveys of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers, aged 18+ from diverse regions and demographical backgrounds. The report was fielded from April 5- 21, 2022.

NEW YORK—In another sign that consumers are feeling overwhelmed by the available streaming content, a new survey of 3,000 people by Movable Ink has found that more than half of consumers (52%)  in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland feel that four or more streaming services are too many. 

The survey also found that brands in general–not just streamers–need to find better ways to communicate with customers and to personalize those communications if they want to retain their loyalty in a very crowded marketplace. 

Over two-thirds (68%) of consumers say they are likely to be a loyal customer and purchase more of a brand's products if they're engaging and building personal relationships with them and over half (51%) of U.S. consumers reported they would be more likely to trust the brand that sent them personalized communications, which is an increase of 6% from the 2021 survey.

At the same time, privacy remains an important issue with 20% of consumers saying a lack of transparency around how brands use data is a top concern. About 40% said misuse of personal information would cause them to cancel services or not purchase from the company.

In specific questions about streaming, the survey highlighted several things that are effective in terms of getting consumers to use the service, which in turn is important for retaining subs. 

About 18% of consumers said original content was the most compelling reason to watch or listen to content, followed by new episodes for previously watched content (17%), trending content (14%), a reminder of what’s on their watch/listen list (13%), a reminder of unfinished content (6%), and word of mount (10%). 

When asked about what types of communications they wanted to receive from streaming services, 35% said they wanted notifications of new episodes for previously watched content, followed by notifications of trending content (25%), notification of original content (24%), reminders of what’s on their watch/listen list (24%), and a reminder of unfinished content (21%). 

"A spotlight on data privacy regulations, tech changes, and consumer preferences has caused a tectonic shift across the marketing industry. However, despite the ever-changing landscape, our latest research reiterates consumers' calls for more personalized experiences and that they're willing to exchange data if it means a more tailored brand experience," said Vivek Sharma, CEO at Movable Ink. 

The full report is available here. 

A new survey commissioned by Tubi is reporting that Americans plan to stream a prodigious amount of content in 2022, watching about 290 separate movies and TV shows. But the study also found that a significant majority (57%) plan to cut some of their streaming subscriptions, with the average person planning to drop three to five services. 

Netflix and Amazon were cited as the two services facing sub losses or churn. 

The survey of 2,000 U.S. adults conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Tubi  also found that seven in ten cited changes to their financial situation as a reason to reevaluate their streaming service spending. Aside from budget, respondents cited other factors that would make them pull the plug on a streaming service, including a limited selection of titles (49%), lack of a user-friendly interface (34%) and poor customer service (33%).

The survey offered some particularly worrisome news for major streaming services like Netflix. About 75% of respondents reported that they anticipate not using or plan to bid adieu to Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

Large numbers of respondents also said they might not use or drop satellite TV (61%), pay-per-view services like Apple iTunes (52%) and cable TV (48%).

Forty-four percent said they’d stick with an unsatisfying streaming service for only a week before canceling it.

When asked what would keep a person loyal to a service, respondents cited affordability (45%), a wide selection of content (44%) and a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to discover movies and shows (43%).

According to the survey top factors in choosing a streaming service include: 

• A wide library of content across different genres and subgenres - 42%
• Free/affordable - 38%
• Original content - 37%
• The service has movies/shows everyone’s talking about - 37%
• Content that reflects my community as it pertains to race, sexuality, religion, etc. - 36%
• A user-friendly experience - 33%
• Diverse content - 32%
• Nostalgic/classic library content - 30%

DALLAS—Streaming services are facing a growing challenge in retaining what a new Parks Associates report is calling “Service Hoppers” who switched between services and resubscribed to services multiple times in the previous twelve months.

Park’s new “Data-Based Decision Making for Video Services,” report found that 36% of OTT subscribers, roughly 32 million US households, fall into the category of “service hoppers.”

“Data collection and analysis offer new ways to attract and retain viewers, optimize revenue, and create new value,” said Elizabeth Parks, president and CMO, Parks Associates. “Data allows vendors to identify subscribers at risk of churn and can even tag the ‘server hoppers’ who will jump in and out of services no matter what, so that providers do not waste resources chasing them in vain. Advanced data tools help companies make more informed decisions about the content and structure of their services and special offerings.”  

Streamers, however, face challenges in establishing closer ties with subscribers. The Parks research found that all methods where subscribers interact with OTT services, from subscription to platform usage, are rapidly diversifying. 

In the early market, households would subscribe directly via an OTT provider’s website, but the percentage of households subscribing directly via an OTT provider’s website declined from 41% to 29% between Q1 2020 and Q3 2021. Instead, households are taking multiple paths to video subscription, including through OTT aggregators.  

Given the enhanced value of subscriber data, some content providers are seeking to re-establish control over their viewers—and the data about them—by not offering subscriptions via aggregators. 

In 2021, a substantial group of OTT households subscribed to an OTT service via Amazon Prime Video Channels, but that percentage could drop in the future, as HBO and HBO Max were removed from Amazon Prime Video Channels in September. Likewise, Disney+ is not available through major aggregators, and NBC recently announced it is moving many of its shows exclusively to Peacock and away from Hulu.  

More information on "Data-Based Decision Making for Video Services" can be found by contacting sales@parksassociates.com or visiting www.parksassociates.com

NEW YORK— Amid the burgeoning debate about the metaverse and its prospects for dominating the media landscape, Deloitte's Digital Media Trends survey found a number of signs that streaming media might be vulnerable to competition from the metaverse. Those included a notable lack of loyalty to individual streaming services, which face high churn rates among younger subs, and the popularity of video games, which cut into the time audiences spend with streaming services and are beginning to expose younger audiences to the metaverse.  

Overall the report, which covers respondents in five countries, found that streaming video providers face greater pressure to attract and retain subscribers who have become savvier about chasing the content they want and managing the costs they pay. This is especially true with younger generations who have grown up with smartphones, social media and video games, and prefer entertainment experiences that are more social and interactive. For the youngest generations, user-generated social media streams and social video games may be meeting their needs better than streaming video and the popularity of games is providing a gateway into the metaverse, the researchers said. 

"While streaming video on-demand business models look much the same as they did when they were created 15 years ago, social media and gaming companies have quickly evolved their offerings, leveraging technology, and capitalizing on behaviors,” said Jana Arbanas, vice chair, Deloitte LLP and U.S. telecom, media and entertainment sector leader. “Social media is free and available anywhere, anytime, offering both passive and interactive experiences with endless streams of personalized content, without the cost of a subscription. And more people are interacting and socializing in game worlds that host millions of users, brands and franchises, and major non-gaming events. SVOD companies aren't just competing with each other for audiences, they are also competing with different, more social and immersive forms of entertainment."

Other key data points include:  

• The average churn rate in the United States remains at 37% across all paid streaming video on-demand (SVOD) services. In the United Kingdom (U.K.), Germany, Brazil, and Japan, the average overall churn rate is closer to 30%.
• In all five countries, Gen Z respondents prefer video games as their favorite form of digital entertainment. For older generations, watching TV and movies at home comes first.
• In the U.S., 81% of social media users say they use social media services at least daily; 59% use these services several times a day. Across the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Brazil and Japan, people in younger generations (including Gen Z, Millennial, and Gen X) are consistently more likely to say they use social media.
• Nearly half (46%) of U.S. respondents say they watch more user-generated content than they did six months ago, and half say they always end up spending more time watching user-generated content than they had planned (a number that jumps to 70% among Gen Z).
• In all five countries, Gen Z and Millennial gamers play an average of 11 hours a week. In the U.S..
• Churn is highest among the youngest generations as just over half of U.S. Millennials (52%) and Gen Z (51%) have either canceled, or both added and canceled, an SVOD service within the last six months.
• Twenty-five percent of those in the U.S. have canceled a streaming video service and then resubscribed to the same service within the past 12 months. Respondents say they churn and return either because a new season of their favorite show was released, they got a free or discounted rate, or content they wanted to watch moved to the service. It's global too. In the U.K., Germany, Brazil and Japan, around 22% have churned and returned. Overall, Gen Z and Millennials are significantly more likely to churn and return.
• Cost is also a factor in retaining consumers who are thinking of canceling. For a reduced cost, some would be willing to sign up for an annual subscription, watch more ads, or wait 45 days to watch a new release. Globally, many people prefer ad-supported options for streaming video that reduce or eliminate their subscription costs.
• In the U.S., 81% of social media users say they use social media services at least daily and 59% use these services several times a day. Across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Brazil and Japan, Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen Xers are consistently more likely to say they use these services.
• Forty-six percent of U.S. respondents say they watch more user-generated content than they did six months ago, and half (50%) say they always end up spending more time watching user-generated content than they had planned (a number that jumps to 70% among Gen Zs).
• About 4 in 10 (41%) of U.S. respondents say they spend more time watching user-generated video content than they do TV shows and movies on video streaming services — a sentiment that increases to around 60% for Gen Zs and Millennials.
• Seventy percent of U.S. respondents say they follow an influencer, and one-third (33%) say these online personalities influence their buying decisions; that figure jumps to more than half of U.S. Gen Zs (52%) and Millennials (53%). 
• Social media services are also becoming shoppable retail destinations; more than half of U.S. respondents (53%) and around 40% or more in the U.K., Germany and Japan say they see customized ads on social media for products or services they have been looking for — a number that increases to 72% in Brazil.
• Whether smartphone, console, or PC, gaming has become huge, and it's taking time away from other forms of entertainment. 
• In the U.S., more than 80% of both men and women say they play video games, and half of smartphone owners say they play on a smartphone daily. Gen Z and Millennial gamers play the most, logging an average of 11 and 13 hours per week, respectively. Gen X gamers follow closely behind with around 10 hours of gameplay every week, reminding us that it's not just the kids.
• About half of all U.S. gamers say that playing video games has taken time away from other entertainment activities; unsurprisingly, these percentages increase for younger gamers. This trend is also playing out in other markets, with just over half of gamers in the U.K. (55%), and just under half of gamers in both Brazil (45%) and Japan (44%) also trading other entertainment activities to play video games. 
• Overall, more than three-quarters of U.S. gamers surveyed also say that gaming helps them relax, while nearly 60% report that gaming helped them through a difficult time. About half (53%) of U.S. gamers say that playing video games helps them stay connected to people. And these games are supporting identity: 61% of U.S. gamers say that personalizing their game character or avatar helps them express themselves.
• Gaming and music also appear to be closely linked; about half (51%) of U.S. gamers say they often discover new music while playing video games. 
• About a quarter (23%) of U.S. gamers say they have attended an in-game event in the last year, with Millennials and men being the most likely attendees. Remarkably, 82% of those attending live in-game events also made a purchase because of the event: 65% purchased digital goods and 34% purchased physical merchandise, reinforcing the steady blurring of lines between real and virtual worlds.

The online survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers was conducted in December 2021 and January 2022 and was also fielded for the first time in mature digital entertainment markets, including the U.K. (n=1,002), Germany (n=1,002), Brazil (n=1,000) and Japan (n=1,000).

LONDON—As streaming platforms seek to address high churn rates, a growing number of streamers are moving away from simultaneously offering a full season of episodes for binge viewing to a strategy of releasing new episodes on a weekly basis, according to a new report from Ampere Analysis. 

That report noted that in contrast to Netflix’s strategy of full season releases, mirrored by other platforms like Amazon and Hulu, a wave of new SVOD entrants are employing the classic model of gradual episode releases for their own original titles. 

While the trend may be only temporary, Ampere found that a weekly release schedule limits subscriber churn and better maintains engagement with content over time. The strategy is also helping to eke out perceived value in smaller catalogs.

Rahul Patel, senior analyst, explained that “a weekly release pattern more easily facilitates conversation around a show. Between episodes, viewers have ample time to discuss and re-watch episodes, which is less likely to be the case if an entire season is released together. Hence, weekly releases can lessen the chance of engagement with a show decaying rapidly after its initial release. By extension, weekly releases can benefit lower profile titles—particularly those not based on recognisable Intellectual Property—as positive word of mouth sentiment has more time to build and spread. By releasing the totality of an unknown season in one stroke, a platform runs the risk of the title being crowded out in an increasingly competitive content market.”

One reason for the move to weekly releases by new platforms is the size of their overall on-demand library, Ampere reported.

At launch, the U.S. Disney+ catalog was 10% the size of Netflix’s by total duration, while HBO Max’s was 26% and Apple TV+’s less than 1%. 

In addition, the number of flagship Originals available in the first months of launch was also limited, especially due to delays caused by COVID-19-related production shutdowns.

The move to a weekly release strategy across a range of high-profile Originals reduced the risk of churn over time, the report found. For example, Disney+ released episodes of new Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows across 34 weeks in 2021. A fan of Marvel content wanting to avoid the plotlines being spoiled would have to subscribe to Disney+ for the majority of the year to watch each episode at the earliest opportunity.

The report also found that engagement declined faster for full-season releases. The Ampere Popularity Score indicated that engagement with a TV show decays faster for full-season releases when indexed against their popularity at launch. 

Comparing top Netflix (full-season releases) with HBO (weekly releases) shows, Ampere found that the popularity of the former dropped to 80% of the premiere month within one month of release compared to four months for the latter.

DALLAS—Parks Associates has released consumer research showing that in Q3 2021, 27% of US broadband subscribers reported that smart TV’s using the Samsung Tizen operating system were their primary device for consuming video content. 

The data highlighted the fact that more “changes are coming for the video entertainment market in 2022," said Eric Sorensen, senior contributing analyst, Parks Associates. "The smart TV will cement its status as the default streaming platform in the households. We will see many more content partnerships and service acquisitions among providers and manufacturers. Content creators will leverage their ability to reach audiences directly, while service and content providers will adapt their business models to anticipate higher levels of churn than in previous years."

Acquisitions and consolidations are becoming key options for streaming firms to compete in the face of limited material and the constant demand for more new content, Parks also reported.  

It’s OTT Video Tracker found that the average churn rate for SVODs increased to 45% in 2021, a 5.5 percentage point jump from 2020. Consumers hold on to the services they use the most and jump among the others, paying for a program or season and then canceling when they are finished, Parks reported. The number of subscriptions may rise and fall over time, indicating that churn rates will continue to be elevated in 2022.

Parks Associates also reported that streaming media providers will face increasing competition from digital and social content producers in 2022. Popular online content creators are circumventing established distribution models and building their streaming applications from the ground up. For instance, KevOnStage Studios, created by comedian and multi-viral content producer Kevin Fredericks, whose stage name is KevOnStage, is very successful with his YouTube channel.

"Streaming apps provide new revenue opportunities, especially with the chance to retain content ownership rights," Sorensen said. "Digital content creators can monetize content and build audiences collected from social networking and video sharing platforms to their streaming applications and websites."

The OTT Video Market Tracker, an annual service from Parks Associates, features monthly updates on trends and market activities in the OTT video space, including comprehensive tracking of existing and emerging players and quarterly subscriber estimates. 

PALO ALTO, Calif.—In a new report, Wurl Analytics has quantified some of the hefty costs streamers face by high churn rates, reporting that the four top SVOD services lost $80.2 million in April of 2021 alone. 

The `Churn Analysis Report 2021’ found that HBO Max had the biggest losses ($33.1 million), followed by Netflix ($17.3 million), Hulu ($15.1 million) and Disney+ ($14.7 million) in April. 

The report stressed that churn doesn’t just involve lost subscription revenue. It also noted that churn rates increase marketing expenses. 

In the US alone, the same four services - Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max - collectively spent nearly $50 million in media, but nearly $20 million is attributable to reducing churn, the report found. 

Disney+, HBO Max and ViacomCBS experienced monthly churn rates ranging from 2% to 7%, the report also reported. 

To meet their stated subscriber goals, large SVOD platforms must add hundreds of millions of subscribers just to replace those that churn, Wurl Analytics noted.

It estimates that between 2021 and 2024, Disney+ will churn 333.1 million subscribers, requiring it to attract 472.5 million subscribers in order to reach its stated growth target of between 230 million to 260 million global subscribers by the end of 2024. 

For HBO Max to meet its goal of 150 million subscribers after churn, it needs to acquire 302.6 million new subscribers. 

ViacomCBS's suite of SVOD services needs 210.4 million additions to hit their goals of 150 million subscribers by 2025 and 70 million subscriber additions to hit their goal of 70 million subscribers by 2024.3

"Churn is not a new problem in the video business, of course, but with the advent of streaming services, subscriber churn has escalated and accelerated due to the fact that it is much easier to cancel a streaming subscription than it is to cancel a conventional cable subscription," said Sean Doherty Jr., head of Wurl Analytics. "With this report, we are providing a snapshot of the actual financial impact churn is having on streamers. It is the first of several reports Wurl Analytics will publish each year aimed at providing the streaming TV business with valuable data insights to help inform better business and marketing decisions."

The Churn Report Analysis Report 2021 is available for download here.

Almost half of OTT apps are abandoned within a month of download according to a new report.

In its Industry Benchmark Report for Media and Entertainment (OTT) Apps, mobile marketing company CleverTap found 43 per cent of all OTT apps are abandoned just one month after download.

The company analyzed the OTT apps space by reviewing data points across 100 million devices.

The report also found that OTT applications experience 67 per cent churn within the first two weeks; conversely, only 26 per cent of new OTT app users engage media at least three times within the first month.

Almitra Karnik, global head of marketing at CleverTap said, “There’s intense competition in the OTT space, and thus the need to differentiate the offering with exclusive content and a superior customer experience becomes all the more important. CleverTap’s OTT Benchmark Report provides the essential metrics that mobile marketers can use to benchmark their app’s performance.”

About 18% of U.S. broadband households canceled a over-the-top video service, a rate that has held steady over the past three years, according to research from Parks Associates.

OTT video subscriptions are relatively new compared to traditional pay-TV and while they are growing quickly, data about churn rates is still emerging.

Parks says that the average subscription length for OTT video services is 30 months, with the top services, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, having more stability.

Churn is important because video service spend a lot to add subscribers and holding onto these mostly young consumers pays off financially.

"With OTT service penetration starting to plateau at around 65% adoption among U.S. broadband households, the OTT video market is reaching a level of saturation for the services currently available to consumers," said Hunter Sappington, a research analyst at Parks Associates. "In an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace where subscriber acquisition costs are high, this plateau highlights the need for services to focus on retention rather than solely acquisition. Successful services can encourage retention in several ways, such as community building, continuously offering new and fresh content, and improving their user experience."

Parks says that more than 85% of U.S. millennials currently subscribe to at least one OTT video service.

The firm estimates that by 2022, more than 265 million households worldwide will have more than 400 million OTT video service subscriptions.

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