Premium streaming video on-demand (SVOD) services are getting a better handle on subscription churn, with bundle offerings helping to offset cancellations caused by price increases, according to measurement firm Antenna.
The findings were outlined in the company’s latest State of Subscription report that examined subscriber growth, retention and churn across streaming services in 2024, details of which were provided to the Wall Street Journal on a first-look basis earlier this week before the report was made public to other outlets on Tuesday.
The overall rate of growth for SVOD services slowed somewhat in 2024, with the rate of growth hovering around 10 percent during the year, compared to nearly 13 percent the year prior. The slowdown isn’t necessarily attributed to higher churn, but is likely the result of streaming customers settling on the services they want, and opting not to take advantage of other offerings in the marketplace unless they are compelled to do so.
One way SVOD services are attracting new subscribers is through bundled offerings, with Antenna noting that nearly 20 percent of new sign-ups to Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) SVOD, Max, came from a novel bundle launched last year that pairs the service with two others owned by Disney. The Disney Plus-Hulu-Max bundle retained around 80 percent of subscribers three months after they first signed up for it, around 7 percentage points higher than Disney’s own streaming service and bundles, Antenna said.
Ad-supported offerings are also attracting cost-conscious subscribers, with ad-inclusive tiers accounting for 57 percent of gross net subscriber additions to SVOD services in 2024. Antenna found that the retention rate of ad-supported plans is about the same as ad-free plans.
Rising costs associated with streaming services is driving customers to switch to lower-priced, ad-supported plans, though some are still choosing to cancel their subscriptions entirely. But Antenna found that one in four customers who dropped a streaming service re-subscribed within 90 days of canceling, which helped lower the average monthly churn rate across the SVOD landscape to less than 3 percent in 2024.
In the United States, Netflix continues to account for the largest share of the SVOD industry, with 26 percent of recurring subscriptions on the platform. Disney’s Hulu is tied with Paramount Plus for the second-biggest share, each accounting for 14 percent of the domestic SVOD industry. Disney Plus is not too far behind with a 13 percent share, while Comcast’s Peacock accounts for 11 percent.
Antenna said the rate of growth was “meaningful” in 2024, with five services — Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus and Peacock — all logging year-over customer increases. Six services — the five mentioned, plus Max — saw volume increases of over 1 million subscribers, Antenna said.
Antenna’s data is based on opt-in financial metrics, including a review of charges on debit and credit card statements and other banking data — which means the rate of growth and net customer addition volume may differ from other reports. But the company’s metrics are considered a more-holistic view at the rate of retention and growth in the SVOD industry, because Antenna evaluates subscribers on an individual level and does not count free or trial users of a service, nor does it include intra-company bundles like those offered by Amazon. By comparison, some companies count free, trial, discounted and paid subscribers as a single unit, and others factor in wholesale reach, like the availability of SVOD services to pay TV customers.
