New Report: Consumers Subscribe to 8.8 Streaming Services, While Consumers’ Interest in AVOD Grows

With the rise in popularity of streaming services, home entertainment has transformed over the past few years. The pandemic encouraged consumers to subscribe to different services as they were spending more time at home instead of going to sporting events and concerts.

As streaming continues to grow, TiVo Video Trends Report for Q2 2021 gives insight into consumers’ streaming habits and how they consume streaming content. TiVo’s survey included 4,500 consumers in North America over the age of 18.

In Q4 2020, consumers were using an average of 6.9 streaming services. Since then, that number has grown to about 8.8 streaming services, a 27% increase. While people of all ages are cutting the cord, younger age groups are using a greater variety of streaming services. This report shows that people ages 18-30 are using 11.3 different services, while those 51 and older use about 5 services.

When consumers decide to switch from traditional pay-TV to streaming services, they are often trying to save money. 11% of those surveyed canceled pay-TV in the past six months. For 73% of consumers, cost was one of the factors that ultimately led to this decision.

With more and more streaming services becoming available, consumers are left with a difficult decision. They must decide which services to continue paying for and which they should drop. From month to month, many consumers change up their streaming bundles, churning through different services. Consumers might subscribe to a service for a month to watch a specific title and then cancel their subscription before being charged again.

Nearly 25% of consumers unsubscribed from a streaming service in the past six months. 19% of consumers canceled at least one of their subscriptions for COVID-19-related reasons. There are several explanations for consumers’ decisions to drop a subscription, but three of the top four reasons are cost-related.

As consumers subscribe to a variety of different services to create their own bundles, they are running into an issue. 55% of those surveyed say that they are already at their spending limit and can’t afford to subscribe to another streaming service.

According to TiVo’s report, 70% of consumers aren’t sure that they are saving money by switching to streaming services. According to another survey, consumers save an average of $30 per month on streaming services vs. traditional pay-TV.

While cost appears to be a major factor, there are ways to work around it, and some consumers are already jumping on board. TiVo’s report shows that consumers are becoming more interested in ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services. 58% of AVOD users are fine with watching ads. Having access to free AVOD services is preferable to paying for another streaming subscription for 81% of users. 83% of consumers would like to see paid streaming services offer free, ad-supported tiers.

Not all ads are equal, however. Depending on which devices consumers are streaming, ads may be more or less tolerable. 31% of consumers think that smartphone and tablet ads are worse than TV ads, while 23% believe that TV ads are worse. 38% say that ads are the same across all devices.

Another study shows that more consumers are using both AVOD and SVOD services and that they don’t mind ads, especially when it can save them money.