What you need to know
Streaming services aren’t in the best place in 2023, especially when it comes to paid video streaming services. Most of the largest players – Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ – lost millions of subscribers in 2022 and are reeling as they scramble to gain them back. Some brands, like Netflix have implemented password sharing blocks preventing consumers from different households from using the service. This proved profitable for Netflix, as it added 5.9 million subscribers since restricting access to multiple households, far surpassing the nearly two million they lost in 2022. With just over a third of consumers sharing their login and passwords outside their households, there is a relatively large untapped video streaming market. Additionally, many video streaming giants are investing billions per year into their original content, which is incredibly important since both robust quantity and quality of content can help with retention and prevent churn.
It is worth noting that consumers are tightening their purse strings and really evaluating their monthly spending habits, which can lead to cuts in non-essentials like paid streaming services. Price and affordability are cited as the top reasons why consumers might think about cancelling their service, and in fact, over a quarter of consumers have canceled in the past year due to financial reasons. Most consumers aren’t spending more than $30 per month for streaming services, making it paramount for streaming brands to truly convince consumers of their value. Consumers are always looking for savings as well, and that is why 82% cited they would buy a streaming service bundle if the total price was discounted.
Streaming is an entirely different beast altogether. Consumers can subscribe to premium versions of some of the hosting platforms – like YouTube Premium – to skip ads and unlock content, but they can also subscribe to individual creators and contribute to support them. However, it is worth noting that due to the para-social relationship between streamer and audience member, increasing loyalty with those streamers to the extent where they will follow those streamers from platform to platform.
Key issues covered in this Report
Type of paid streaming subscriptions consumers have.
Paid streaming brands consumers subscribe to.
General attitudes towards paid streaming subscriptions.
Typical monthly spend on paid streaming subscriptions.
Motivations for subscriptions and cancellations.
Recency of various paid streaming subscription activities.
This Report was written from August 28-September 15, 2023. Consumer research was fielded from May 25-June 3, 2023.
