UK households are becoming more resistant to annual streaming price increases, with 59% worried about rising costs and 65% saying recent price hikes are unfair, according to EY’s latest Decoding the Digital Home study.
The survey of 2,000 UK consumers finds a significant proportion willing to churn: 34% of households paying for streaming services have either cancelled or plan to cancel a service in the next 12 months, only marginally down on last year.
While saving money remains the main cancellation driver, EY says secondary factors are becoming more prominent, including services losing content they previously carried (11%) and consumers switching to other platforms (10%).
EY also points to a more deliberate, transactional subscription culture. 40% of respondents actively follow a “subscribe-watch-cancel-repeat” pattern, while 41% have resubscribed to platforms they previously cancelled, suggesting churn is increasingly paired with reactivation. At the same time, 61% want streaming platforms to make it easier to access content without the hassle of subscribing and cancelling.
On what drives sign-ups, attractive monthly pricing remains the most decisive factor, but content value is rising in importance. EY reports growing emphasis on access to specific content (34%), extensive libraries (35%) and originals/exclusives (28%).
The report frames the findings against a maturing global market, noting 1.8 billion paid monthly subscriptions worldwide, forecast to exceed 2 billion by 2029 as growth rates flatten and competition intensifies.
Sports is highlighted as a fast-evolving battleground: 47% of UK respondents say they are willing to pay to watch sport on TV (up from 35% last year), while 35% subscribed to a streaming platform in the past year because it carried live sport. However, 49% say they face barriers to paid sports viewing, led by high prices (26%).
EY also flags consumer expectations around AI transparency. While some respondents would welcome AI that improves ad personalisation (41%) or content management (40%), 79% believe AI-generated content should be clearly labelled.
