Subscribers in the United States are returning to streaming services they only resigned from a few months previously.
Research from Ampere Analysis shows that Disney subscribers who had previously churned and then returned (known as ‘resubscribers’) to take the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle are 59% less likely to churn within 12 months than those who take Disney+ alone. This finding suggests bundling streaming services will have a significant impact on the 42% of US streaming subscribers who ‘regularly subscribe, cancel and resubscribe’.
Daniel Monaghan, Research Manager at Ampere Analysis said: “As the SVOD market in the US has become increasingly saturated, new subscribers are harder to find, which makes retention all the more important. There is a sizeable group of consumers who frequently subscribe to SVOD platforms, cancel and resubscribe. Reducing this behaviour would boost platforms’ top and bottom lines.”
The Resubscriber cohort tends to be a younger viewer (18-44 years old), and is more likely to be in family households.
Resubscribers are typically avid media consumers, watching more TV and video each day, stacking more SVOD services, and consuming alternative media formats, such as video games and music services more frequently than the average US consumer.
To counter this platform operators have begun to offer multiple services through a single subscription. Ampere Consumer data indicates there is currently limited overlap in uptake between those services, suggesting great upsell and churn mitigation potential.
