Cost is the primary driver for customers unsubscribing from subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) services, according to Ofcom’s Media Nations UK 2025 Report, published this week. Between 4-6% of UK consumers have unsubscribed from at least one of the three most popular services – Amazon Prime, Netflix or Disney+ – in the past three months.
For Netflix, 24% claimed that they didn’t use it enough to justify the cost; 23% objected to increased subscription prices and 22% said it was too expensive. For Amazon Prime, the top reasons for unsubscribing were that they didn’t use it enough (35%) and the expense (35%). For Disney+, it was primarily because the service was too expensive (37%).
Usage also continues to plateau, with the proportion of UK households receiving any subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service in Q1 2025 at the same level as it was in 2021 at 68%. Two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of the SVoD services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+.
Netflix most popular SVoD
Netflix remains the most subscribed-to service, with almost six in ten (59%) or 17.4 million UK households subscribed, accounting for nearly half of total SVoD viewing in 2024. That’s followed by Amazon Prime Video in 13.4 million households (46%) and Disney+ in 7.3 million households (25%). 19% of UK households subscribe to all three services.
Subscribers are increasingly taking up ad-supported subscriptions with the proportion of Netflix subscribers using its ‘Standard with Ads’ subscription tier more than doubling to 28% in Q1 2025, compared to 13% in Q1 2024. Disney+ subscribers taking up its ad-supported tier also increased, although its growth was even more rapid – rising to 23% of subscribers in Q1 2025 versus just 7% in Q1 2024.
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