Churn remains a persistent problem for video streaming services, with cost and trouble finding content the leading drivers. That’s the big takeaway from new research released this week by Parks Associates.
Among the 48% of US internet households that cancelled a streaming video service in the past 12 months, 61% feel they are spending too much on these services. Fifty-seven percent admit switching between services when they can’t find anything to watch, while 50% expressed frustration when a favorite show is cancelled or removed from a service.
Those are findings seen in Parks’ just-released report The Viewer Journey: Navigating Streaming Options. As 29% of U.S. internet households subscribe to more than eight services, spending is a big consideration when deciding what to pay for and what to shed.
“Service providers are in a precarious position in finding the right balance between cost and content, as many consumers are ready to vent their frustrations by cancelling a service,” said Sarah Lee, a Parks Associates Research Analyst. “Consumers are not excited by the many service choices—more than half of households who recently churned feel there are too many streaming options to choose from. This finding suggests consolidated service models are the right move. For example, ESPN, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced a streaming sports service that will include multiple networks and all major sports leagues. Consumers wants this type of one-stop service.”
Parks surveyed some 8,000 U.S. internet households, and analyzed how households view content, prioritize and spend money, and how decisions are made to pay for some services over others.
Parks Associates’ data from Q3 2023 show that households subscribe to 5.8 services on average, while 29% subscribe to more than eight.
“Households can build their own service stack, which excludes unwanted channels that typically come with pre-made cable packages, but they are finding it burdensome to manage multiple subscriptions and monitor ever-changing content sources,” Parks says.
“The industry is reconfiguring through mergers, acquisitions, consolidation, and partnerships, all of which will impact content discovery, consumer choice, and budgets,” Lee said. “In the future, consumers may not need to subscribe to as many services to find the content they care about.”
