Ad-supported streaming climbed to a record 23 million UK subscriptions in Q3 2025, narrowing the gap to ad-free tiers on 29 million, according to Worldpanel by Numerator’s Entertainment on Demand data.
Prime Video regained the lead in new paid sign-ups with 17%, edging Disney+ on 16%. Forty per cent of new subscriptions were ad-supported versus 29% a year ago. UK households with at least one paid video service reached 20.3 million, up 457,000 year-on-year.
Netflix delivered six of the 10 most-watched titles, led by Wednesday and Squid Game, helping drive adoption of its ad tier as some ad-free users traded down. However, Disney+ overtook Netflix on ad experience, leading across load, length, relevance and variation. Worldpanel notes dissatisfaction with ads raises churn risk by 47%.
DAZN recorded its strongest UK month after acquiring FIFA Club World Cup rights in July, nearly doubling its base. While coverage was free in-app, almost one-third of new viewers converted to paid, with active usage holding through August and September.
In free, ad-supported streaming, Tubi continued to grow past 10% of viewers in the category, while Pluto TV struggled to maintain share.
Worldpanel added that brand affinity underpinned Prime Video’s Q3 performance, with 1 in 5 joiners citing they “love the brand”.
Dominic Sunnebo, Global Insight Director at Worldpanel by Numerator, said the maturing ad experience is intensifying competition: Netflix’s ad-tier satisfaction on number and length of ads fell by around 5 percentage points over six months, while Disney+ improved across all measures. He added that DAZN’s approach shows how capitalising on a global moment can seed longer-term engagement.
