Ad-supported plans have become the default way Americans watch streaming video. In 2026, 68% of streaming subscribers choose an ad-supported plan, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends survey of 3,575 US consumers, up more than 20 percentage points from 2024. That shift is reshaping how streaming services price, retain, and lose subscribers this year, and it lands directly on the cancellation and refund terms every streaming brand has to publish.
The data below covers how many services the average household pays for, what triggers a cancellation, and how churn is trending across the industry in 2026.
How many streaming subscriptions does the average household have?
90% of US households now have at least one paid streaming video subscription, and the average household pays for 4 services at once, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends survey (3,575 US consumers age 14 and older, surveyed October and November 2025). That level of adoption means streaming is no longer a discretionary purchase for most households, it is closer to a fixed monthly bill split across several providers.
Figure 1: Share of US households paying for at least one streaming video service. Source: Deloitte 2026 Digital Media Trends, 3,575 consumers.
Running four services at once is also why cancellation and re-subscription have become routine consumer behavior rather than a rare event. A household juggling four bills is a household that reviews, pauses, and cancels far more often than one paying for a single service.
How much do streaming subscribers actually spend each month?
The average US household spends $69 a month on streaming video, a figure that held flat compared with the prior year, per Deloitte’s 2026 survey. Spending is not even across the audience: consumers who identify as fans of a specific show, franchise, or creator spend $71 a month across an average of 4 services, while non-fans spend $56 a month across 3 services.
Figure 2: Average monthly streaming spend, overall versus self-identified fans and non-fans. Source: Deloitte 2026 Digital Media Trends.
Fandom-driven spending is now a distinct revenue segment services actively court with bundles, exclusive drops, and early-access content, rather than a side effect of general demand.
Why are 68% of subscribers now choosing ad-supported plans?
Ad-supported tiers have gone from a niche discount option to the majority default. Deloitte’s 2026 survey found that 68% of streaming subscribers now pay for an ad-supported plan, describing it as “an increase of over 20 percentage points from 2024.” The report does not publish the exact 2024 baseline figure, so treat “more than 20 points” as Deloitte’s own stated delta rather than a computed one.
The shift tracks generational spending pressure: Deloitte reports double-digit adoption growth for ad-supported plans across every age group it surveyed, not just younger, more price-sensitive subscribers. For a household already juggling 4 services at $69 a month, trading a few minutes of ads for a lower bill is now the mainstream choice, not the budget one.
Would a price increase actually make subscribers cancel?
Yes, and the threshold is lower than many streaming services assume. 61% of subscribers say they would cancel their favorite streaming service if its monthly price rose by just $5, and 73% say they are already frustrated that the services they subscribe to keep raising prices, according to Deloitte’s 2026 survey.
That price sensitivity is exactly why a clear, easy-to-find cancellation and refund policy matters commercially, not just legally. Streaming brands that bury cancellation terms or make refunds hard to request give an already price-frustrated subscriber one more reason to leave a negative review instead of just canceling quietly. A Refund Policy Generator that states the cancellation process and any partial-refund terms in plain language up front reduces that friction before a price hike ever lands.
How is streaming subscriber growth trending in 2026?
Premium streaming video (SVOD) subscriber growth is decelerating even as churn improves. Gross subscriber additions across the category grew 7% in 2025, down from 12% in 2024, according to Antenna’s Q1 2026 State of Subscriptions report covering premium SVOD services. Antenna does not publish the underlying panel size for this benchmark, so treat the percentages as directional trend data rather than a precise population estimate.
Figure 3: Year-over-year growth rate in premium streaming subscriber gross additions. Source: Antenna Q1 2026 State of Subscriptions report.
Churn told a steadier story over the same period. The weighted average churn rate for premium SVOD services settled at 4.6% in 2025, down from 4.8% in December 2024, and 7 of the 11 months from September 2024 through August 2025 showed flat or improved churn compared with the same months a year earlier, a level of stability Antenna says the category had achieved in only 2 of the previous 21 months.
Do subscribers who cancel a streaming service come back?
Canceling a streaming subscription is rarely permanent. 41% of consumers canceled at least one streaming video subscription in the last six months, and separately, 22% of consumers canceled a service and then returned to that same service within six months, according to Deloitte’s 2026 survey. Deloitte does not disclose whether the 22% is a subset of the 41% or a separately measured share of all consumers, so treat the two figures as related but not strictly nested.
Figure 4: How streaming cancellations and reactivations play out over a six-month window. Source: Deloitte 2026 Digital Media Trends.
For a streaming brand, that return behavior is exactly why an easy re-subscription path, and a cancellation flow that does not burn goodwill on the way out, both pay off.
What happened after Netflix cracked down on password sharing?
Netflix’s password-sharing enforcement, rolled out in the US starting in May 2023, produced one of the sharpest subscriber jumps the category has seen. The company added 9.33 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2024 alone, more than five times the number it added in the same quarter a year earlier, according to Netflix’s Q1 2024 earnings report as covered by the Wall Street Journal and Variety. That single-quarter result significantly exceeded Wall Street’s own forecast of roughly 4.84 million net additions.
Figure 5: Key subscriber and churn milestones across the streaming category, 2023 to 2026. Sources: Netflix Q1 2024 earnings (WSJ, Variety), Antenna, Deloitte.
The password-sharing crackdown shows how much of the subscriber growth in this category now comes from converting existing viewers into paying accounts, not from acquiring new audiences from scratch.
Streaming subscription data at a glance
| Metric | 2026 value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Households with a paid streaming subscription | 90% | Deloitte, 2026 |
| Average streaming services per household | 4 | Deloitte, 2026 |
| Average monthly streaming spend | $69 | Deloitte, 2026 |
| Subscribers on an ad-supported plan | 68% | Deloitte, 2026 |
| Premium SVOD weighted average churn rate | 4.6% | Antenna, 2025 data |
| Would cancel over a $5 monthly price increase | 61% | Deloitte, 2026 |
For broader context on how streaming fits into overall consumer subscription spending, see our subscription economy statistics for 2026, and for how free trial conversion is trending across the wider subscription market, see our free trial statistics for 2026.
The Bottom Line
Streaming subscriptions have stopped growing the way they used to, and started behaving more like a mature utility bill. Nine out of ten US households already pay for streaming video, so 2026’s growth story is about retention and pricing tolerance rather than new sign-ups. The ad-supported tier’s jump to 68% adoption, and the fact that 61% of subscribers would cancel over a $5 price hike, both point the same direction: subscribers are actively managing their streaming spend, not passively renewing it. Services and any brand running a subscription model should treat cancellation and refund terms as a retention tool, not paperwork, because the return data shows most canceled subscribers are still reachable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of streaming subscribers use an ad-supported plan in 2026? 68% of streaming subscribers now choose an ad-supported plan, an increase of more than 20 percentage points from 2024, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends survey of 3,575 US consumers.
How many streaming subscriptions does the average household have? 90% of US households have at least one paid streaming video subscription in 2026, averaging 4 services per household, according to Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends survey.
Would streaming subscribers cancel over a price increase? 61% of subscribers say they would cancel their favorite streaming service if the monthly price rose by $5, and 73% already say they are frustrated by repeated price increases, per Deloitte’s 2026 survey.
What is the churn rate for streaming subscriptions in 2026? Premium streaming video (SVOD) churn stabilized at a weighted average of 4.6% in 2025, down from 4.8% in December 2024, according to Antenna’s Q1 2026 State of Subscriptions report.
Sources and References
- Deloitte. (2026). “20th Edition Digital Media Trends: From Subscribers to Superfans.” Survey of 3,575 US consumers age 14 and older, conducted October to November 2025.
- Antenna. (2026). “Q1’26 State of Subscriptions Report: Premium SVOD, 2025 Year in Review.” Panel size not disclosed for churn and growth-rate figures.
- The Wall Street Journal. (2024). “Netflix Q1 Earnings Report.” Netflix added 9.33 million subscribers in Q1 2024, more than five times its year-earlier pace.
Note: All figures verified as of October 2026. Streaming pricing, churn, and ad-tier adoption change quickly, so headline figures in this post are refreshed at least twice a year.
