Ad free alternatives are unlikely to be the first choice for viewers by 2026, according to new Worldpanel by Numerator data.
The latest Entertainment on Demand (EoD) findings show that Disney+ achieved its highest share of new paying subscribers in over two years between April and June 2025.
It comes as ad supported tiers in Britain are accelerating, with 37% of new subscriptions in Q2 2025 being paid-for VoD services, compared to just 26% a year ago. Overall, ad tier penetration rose to two in five (41%) in the last quarter, up 4% points from Q1 2025.
If current trends continue, households with access to ad-supported streaming services will outnumber those with ad free services by Q2 2026.
Dominic Sunnebo, Commercial Director at Worldpanel by Numerator, commented: “The rise of ad supported streaming tiers reflects a broader shift in consumer behaviour as people become more willing to pay for ads that match compelling, unmissable streaming content. In many ways, it’s a full circle moment where the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and more are creeping closer to traditional broadcast TV.
Prime Video leads the trend, with 83% of total subscribers – the equivalent of almost 8 million households – now on the ad supported tier. This is high percentage is not surprising given that Amazon converted its entire base to the ad supported tier, whereas the other leading services added new low-cost tiers.
Paid video streaming subscriptions in Britain reached 19.9 million households in Q2 2025, an increase of 400,000 year-on-year. Disney+ captured 22% of new paid subscriptions and the top spot for the quarter.
Paramount+ also saw strong growth in the quarter with 11% share of new paid subscriptions, accelerated by its new, lower-priced ad tier.
Subscriber feedback from Worldpanel by Numerator’s Entertainment on Demand shows that Netflix continues to lead when it comes to ad experience, with the highest proportion of subscribers reporting satisfaction across metrics such as number of ads, length of ads and variation of ads. Disney+ follows closely, excelling in ad relevance. And whilst Paramount+ saw strong growth in numbers of ad tier subscribers, as few as 18% of its subscribers are happy with the number of ad breaks per show.
This is not surprising, with ads crashing into their viewing without the break bumpers used on commercial television, sometimes just for the sake of showing a few promos.
