Mark your calendar for Mediaweek, October 29-30 in New York City. We’ll unpack the biggest shifts shaping the future of media—from tv to retail media to tech—and how marketers can prep to stay ahead. Register with early-bird rates before sale ends!
While it may have been hard to meet new people over the past 14 months, many Americans sought out new relationships through the faces on their TV screens—connected TV screens, that is.
In a new Adweek-Morning Consult survey, respondents shared how their relationships with streaming services changed after the pandemic hit, and how they expect things to evolve over the next year. With the proliferation of platforms and an increasingly competitive landscape, viewers’ decisions will dictate the success of countless ad dollars—especially as they decide whether to opt for lower-cost, ad-supported options over premium, ad-free offerings.
Netflix is still the most popular streamer
Overall, 70% of survey respondents said that they, or someone in their household, has at least one subscription to a streaming service. Netflix was the most popular, as 62% said their household had a subscription. Over half (54%) said they’re subscribed to Amazon Prime Video. A total of 56% said they were subscribed to Hulu—31% to the ad-supported option, and 25% to the ad-free option. A third of respondents (33%) said they were subscribed to Disney+.
While 27% said they had an HBO Max subscription, the streamer recently announced that it is launching a new, cheaper, ad-supported option in June. Around one-fifth of respondents said they had a subscription to each Tubi (21%) and Pluto TV (19%). AppleTV+ has captured 16% of respondents.
Newer streaming services haven’t quite blossomed in popularity yet, according to the survey, and popularity varies by platform as to whether the ad-supported option or ad-free option is more popular among subscribers. For example, 10% said they have an ad-supported Paramount+ subscription, and just 9% said they had an ad-free Paramount+ subscription. But on Discovery+, that’s swapped, with 11% of respondents with the ad-supported version and 12% said subscribed to the ad-free offering. On Peacock, which offers partial and full platform levels that are both supported by ads, 17% said they were subscribed to the partial offering and 11% said they’re subscribed to Peacock Premium, the full platform. Another 9% said they were subscribed to Peacock Premium Plus, the platform’s full, ad-free option.
How the pandemic changed viewing habits
When asked whether they increased, cut back on, or kept their streaming subscriptions the same after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, most (54%) said they didn’t make a significant change. Still, more than a third (39%) said they increased the number of streaming subscriptions they have, and just 6% said they have cut back.
Looking ahead, a strong majority (64%) of respondents said they don’t expect to change the number of streaming subscriptions they hold over the next year. Around one-fifth (19%) said they plan to add more, and 16% said they plan to cancel some over the next year.
Around half of consumers prefer ads over higher monthly costs
When asked whether they’d rather pay more for no ads or pay less for ad-supported content on streaming platforms, 49% opted for ads, and 22% said they’d rather pay to avoid them. Just under one-third (30%) said they didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.
