UK Households Cancel Streaming Services To Cut Costs, Report Says

The rising cost of living in Britain has led to households cancelling their streaming subscriptions, new research suggests.

A total of 1.51 million services were canned in the first three months of 2022, market research firm Kantar said.

It said more than half a million cancellations were attributed to “money saving”, with households budgeting for higher prices and energy bills instead.

About 58% of Britain’s homes now have at least one paid streaming service.

The height of the pandemic and lockdowns saw surges in subscriptions for streaming platforms.

But researchers said the proportion of consumers planning to cancel subscriptions stating the primary reason as “wanting to save money” had risen to its highest ever level at 38%, up from 29% in final three months of 2021.

Kantar said households were “starting to seriously prioritise where and how their disposable income is spent”.

Dominic Sunnebo, global insight director at Kantar’s Worldpanel Division, added that the latest research would be “sobering” for the industry.

“The evidence from these findings suggests that British households are now proactively looking for ways to save,” he said.