By Michaela Gordoni
Over one-third (36%) of Americans have cancelled a subscription in the past year.
That said, 92% still have at least one active service, according to a recent survey by CableTV.
In July, CNET discovered six in 10 Americans were considering cancelling some of their subscriptions.
“When people’s budgets are tighter, they start asking themselves: Do I need to be paying over time for this?” said Marco Bertini, a marketing professor. “It just feels like a heavier burden.”
Over 40% of Americans cited prices as their main reason for cancelling. Nearly 20% cancelled due to content completion, meaning they cancelled after they viewed specific shows or movies they wanted to watch. After cancelling, 44% did not replace their service with another service.
Related: Great News: It Just Got Much Easier to Cancel Your Subscriptions
But 37% did switch to an alternative service, while 22% switched to ad-free services.
Many services cost upwards of $20 per month, which is close to cable’s average cost of $89.29, for some.
The average American is over-subscribed and spends over $1,000 per year on subscriptions, and $200 of that typically gets wasted on unused services, USA Today reported.
“It just all adds up so much,” said Cassandra Navarro, one woman who cancelled her subscriptions in favor of DVDs and CDs. “We don’t mind having one or two subscriptions, but when you have so many subscriptions at once, you start to feel like you don’t have control of your life anymore…You can’t keep track of your own finances.”
Another survey, by Streaming Squeeze, found that 63% of Americans who have streaming services say they can’t afford all the services they want. And 55% admit their streaming bills are higher than they want them to be.
“Disposable income, during tough times, is a little more uncertain. It may be higher one month, lower another, then maybe I’m unemployed. Do I want to have a recurring expense when my disposable income is a bit fluctuating?” Bertini asked.
Most consumers (69%) think that paid subscriptions should never show ads. At the same time, 60% say they would accept more ads if it discounted their service.
But when ads have been implemented, the results are mixed. Slightly more (42%) downgrade onto them, while 39% upgrade to avoid them.
Netflix is the most-used streamer at 42%, but it is also the most cancelled at 32%.
All of this data indicates that customers are becoming more cost-conscious and choosy about what they watch.
As streamers continue to compete with one another, going forward, they will need to consider that Americans are heavily scrutinizing the value of their subscriptions.
Read Next: ‘Cancel Disney Plus’ Trends as Price Hike Reveals Growing Dissatisfaction
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