Consumers Today Have an Average of Four Video Streaming Subscriptions

• More than four out of five people in the U.S. have an active subscription to a video streaming service.
• On average, these consumers pay four subscriptions to access an equal number of platforms.
• Music streaming, cloud gaming, paid TV, and even fitness services are complementing the entertainment picture.

It looks like people’s answer to having too many options in the video streaming service space is to subscribe to many of them. A recent survey conducted by accounting and consulting firm Deloitte reveals that the average number of subscriptions to video services by consumers today is four, which is quite impressive.

The survey was conducted in February 2021, so it’s fairly recent, and it involves 2,009 consumers based in the United States. So, while the results may not be representative of the situation around the world, they are definitely indicative. Of course, the fact that we’re going through a slow-dragging pandemic and people have a lot of free time to kill right now certainly plays a role in the results as well.

That is especially the case when considering that video streaming is just one aspect of people’s home entertainment. Music streaming is another, with 60% of the respondents answering with two subscriptions on average. And then there are the gaming services, with 45% of the survey participants answering positively and setting the average number of active subscriptions to three. As shown in Deloitte’s relevant diagram, paid TV packages are also quite popular, with 67% having one, while fitness services also have some popularity.

Of course, some consumers are looking to save money or reduce their entertainment expenses, so they’re going for ad-supported services instead. A percentage of 55% are using an ad-supported video streaming service, and another 62% listen to music through a “free” streaming platform. Some of them are mixing paid and free, as the percentages overlap.

In terms of how these consumers see the service fragmentation, 53% are frustrated with having to jump from one to the other all the time. Then there’s also another 49% that reports frustration when receiving bad recommendations, so it seems that finding content to watch on all these platforms is a source of exasperation for the average user. And then there’s another 66% who are angered when the content they want to watch is suddenly removed from a service.

Another interesting part of the survey is the one that deals with the maximum price for no ads appears to be around $12 per month, but 60% of consumers reported that they would trade a reduction in the cost for some ads. Pricing is undoubtedly a big factor considering that 46% claim that cost matters more than content.