New research from the United States suggests the launch of new tiers that are partially funded by ads has led to a third of subscribers to upgrade their services.
Bango’s Subscription Wars 2024 report incorporates research from 5,000 US subscribers on their habits, behaviors and attitudes towards subscription.
36% have chosen to change to premium tiers to avoid their viewing being interrupted.
It follows Amazon’s move to introduce ads across its service with all subscribers being required to pay an additional supplement if they want them removed.
According to the Bango data, acceptance of advertising varies across different subscription types. While 35% of TV and video streamers have paid for an upgrade to avoid watching ads, this figure rises to 48% among music subscribers. For those streaming sports content the number is even higher with a massive 71% opting to upgrade when ads are introduced into their services.
Bango, which operates as an online merchant, also looks into the effect of password sharing. Since the new, stricter rules were introduced by services including Netflix, 35% of subscribers have started paying for a service they previously accessed for free via someone else’s account.
More than a third of subscribers (35%) still regularly jump between platforms, pausing and restarting their subscriptions to access the content they want.
Paul Larbey, CEO of Bango said, “American attitudes towards subscriptions are changing. While many people predicted that ad tiering would be firmly rejected, in reality subscribers are welcoming the flexibility it provides. People want choice. Those who are happy to watch ads accept them, those who aren’t pay a little extra. The important thing is that they have the freedom to choose.”
The rise of the super-aggregator, where operators such as Verizon have bundled Netflix, Starz, Max, Paramount+ has been welcomed by subscribers
73% saying they want one platform to manage all of their subscriptions in one place. 69% would also like the ability to pay for multiple subscriptions via one monthly bill.
“Subscribers want to jump between different content and services but they don’t want the admin headache of managing multiple accounts and paying multiple bills,” adds Larbey.
However, US subscribers are wary of a return to ‘cable TV’ style packages, with only 29% wanting their cable company to manage their subscriptions.
