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Subscribers of every major streaming service in the U.S. said they were much more likely to cancel their service if the concurrent Hollywood strikes significantly delay the release of new content, according to new survey data from Whip Media.
That finding held true for each of the top eight streaming services in the U.S.: Amazon’s Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+ and Peacock.
Hulu was the service that saw the biggest spike in the likelihood that customers would cancel their subscriptions due to significant content delays. Hulu subscribers were 3.4 times more likely to drop the service due to strike-related delays, according to Whip Media’s survey data.
That figure stands out, considering Hulu subscribers tend to be satisfied with the service during non-strike times. Only 4.5% of Hulu subscribers said they might cancel their service under normal circumstances, but that number jumped to 15.3% of subscribers when faced with the possibility of significant content delays.
But it’s not just Hulu.
Prime Video and Max both saw the odds that subscribers cancel service nearly triple due to strike-related content delays. Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock and Apple TV+ all saw the chances subscribers drop their monthly payments more than double when faced with significant delays, too.
In fact, Netflix was the only service that didn’t see at least a 100% increase in the likelihood its subscribers would cancel their plans due to content delays. That could be due to Netflix’s overall stickiness with viewers, something that may stem from its first-mover advantage and place atop the streaming hierarchy. (Netflix now has 238.4 million global customers, the company reported last week.)
Paramount+ showed the largest absolute share of customers who said they would cancel their subscriptions due to significant delays in new content, with 26.9% of respondents saying they’d drop their plans if their favorite shows are pushed back.
That makes sense, given that Paramount+ had a red-hot start to 2023 — scoring more appearances on Whip Media’s weekly ranker of the most-streamed TV shows in the first quarter than any other service. If hit shows like Taylor Sheridan’s “1923” and “Mayor of Kingstown” are bumped back, it’s easy to see why subscribers may look to drop their plans, at least until their favorite shows return.
Peacock, with 26.5% of respondents saying they’d drop their service due to significant delays, nearly matched Paramount+, and Apple TV+, which is riding its own hot streak of late, had nearly one out of four subscribers say they’d drop their plans due to delays.
Whip Media’s survey was fielded to U.S. users of TV Time, its TV and movie tracking app with more than 26 million global registered users, from July 7 through 17. The 2,011 respondents were between the ages of 18 and 54.
Anyone with a few monthly subscriptions could tell you that they won’t hang around forever if there are only old shows and movies to watch. But companies that own streamers have been telling Wall Street that they don’t expect a significant impact in the near term from the strikes.
When delays start happening, the story companies tell investors may change too. With every streamer besides Netflix still trying to get big enough to show consistent profits, a big increase in churn could really ruin their plans.
