Survey: Video Streaming Is Most Popular Subscription Type in United States, but Also Most-Canceled

There can be no argument that subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services have changed the media game forever. Streaming services that aggregate thousands of hours of popular TV and movies provide excellent entertainment value, especially when they’re priced at $7-$15 per month, a mere fraction of what cable and satellite subscriptions will run.

That’s a big reason why video streaming services are so popular. According to a new survey from Forbes, 90% of customers who use a subscription service of any sort report being signed up for a streaming platform. Streaming was the most popular type of digital subscription owned among subscription users, with delivery services like Amazon coming in second at 72%.

The data from the survey is only half the story, however. Forbes spoke with co-founder of Rocket Money Yahya Mokhtarzada regarding its findings. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps users manage their various subscriptions, and Mokhtarzada says that streaming services are usually highly expendable in customers’ eyes.

“Streaming subscriptions are certainly valuable to Americans but, interestingly, these services are the first on the chopping block when users are cutting down,” Mokhtarzada told Forbes. “Video streaming specifically saw the highest cancelation rate in 2022 among Rocket Money users. We’ve seen a steady increase in monthly video streaming prices, which can motivate users to take stock and cancel unused accounts.”

Mokhtarzada’s words are reinforced by a report from December 2022, which showed that 48% of streaming users said they had canceled one service in favor of another during the past year.

If streaming services are so in-demand, why is the cancelation rate so high? The answer is two-fold. First, users are stacking more streaming subscriptions than ever before. The average streaming customer is now subscribed to six services, more than double the average number from 2019. Stacking that many services can get expensive, which is why many users see that as a good place to trim back when going through a budget.

The second reason subscription users are so likely to cancel streaming services is the ease of doing so. Streamers set themselves apart from pay-TV providers in the early days by offering no long-term contracts. That attracts millions of consumers who would prefer not to be locked in, but it also means that users are much more likely to think of their service as expendable because they can easily come back to it a couple of months down the line.

The survey still offered generally good news for streamers overall. Forbes’ data shows that of the various types of subscription services available, video streaming topped the list of services that give good value. However, there was one warning sign in the data for live TV streaming services. The survey found that users of live TV services were far more likely to be sensitive to price increases.

That could be especially troubling to DIRECTV STREAM and fuboTV, both of which are raising prices in 2023.

Forbes’ data shows conclusively that video streaming is the ruler of the subscription domain. The five most-owned subscriptions are video streaming platforms, even though stacking and month-to-month contracts still make it easy for users to let them go.