Based on a study conducted by Antenna, the Wall Street Journal reports that Americans are increasingly opting out of some of their streaming subscription offers. Cancellations related to premium offers increased by 6.3% in November 2023, compared to 5.1% in the same period the previous year.
Too much choice kills choice?££££
On the same date, among Netflix, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, Max and Peacock subscribers, 24% canceled their subscription to at least three of these services (see Antenna graph below). This figure was 15% two years earlier, in November 2021 and less than 10% at the start of 2021. Reasons given for these defections: increase in the cost of living, increase in the price of services, too many choices scattered among all the offers.
A word to Jonathan Carson, co-founder and CEO of Antenna££££
Antenna points out, however, that many customers come back occasionally when a service launches new content that interests them. Additionally, cheaper, ad-supported options bring back viewers who canceled a more expensive premium option. “Retention is about more than keeping a new subscriber the first time you get them,” explains Jonathan Carson, co-founder and CEO of Antenna. It’s about managing a relationship over the entire real lifespan of the customer.”
As a result of this rationalization of spending by consumers, streaming services are responding with new, more affordable offers financed in part by advertising, by offering free months or by collaborating with their competitors to offer bundled offers . Some of these solutions have already been tested in Europe and France. The golden age of streaming, amplified by the health crisis, seems well and truly behind us.
