The number of Americans with subscriptions to three or more services is on the rise, according to the latest data. With an influx of streaming services over the last couple of years, there’s been a concern that consumers are feeling the effects of having too many subscriptions. In spite of this, the latest data suggests subscriptions per person are still increasing.
As more companies look to offer a direct-to-consumer service, the number of subscription services now available as never been higher. The sheer number of SVOD services have led to the suggestion of a ‘subscription fatigue’ effect starting to set in where consumers are becoming overwhelmed by the options. What’s more, there had previously been reports suggesting that two subscriptions was the sweet spot for most users. However, that sweet spot may now be changing.
A new study by Ampere Analysis indicates the percentage of subscribers who have a minimum of three subscriptions climbed in 2019 in both the U.S. and the UK. The survey involved 22,000 respondents with the results suggesting 39-percent of those based in the U.S. now have at least three subscriptions.
This represented a 6-percent increase compared to the year before and was the single biggest year-over-year increase since the change between 2015 and 2016. Similarly, respondents in Europe also indicated as 6-percent increase was in effect with 22-percent now having more than three subscriptions compared to the 16-percent in 2018. It’s worth noting that the actual percentage may even be higher than what was found in the survey considering the data was collected mid-way through 2019.
More subscriptions is good news for companies
If the results are correct, and more people are now settling with at least one additional subscription, this will be good news for services, as well as the market as a whole.
With two subscriptions thought to be the sweet spot, and Netflix already having cemented its position as the go-to service for many, that left a lot of subscription services vying for the one remaining spot. With Disney+ also having now arrived and looking set to have made a significant impact on the market, it remains to be seen how other services were going to be able to make their own foothold secure.
While one additional subscription per person is not much, and especially when talking in terms of a 6-percent increase, the bigger picture is that since 2015 the percentage of consumers with three or more subscriptions has increased from 10-percent to 39-percent. That sort of change points to a clear altering in trends for a large number of people and if the percentage continues to increase each year, and at the same rate, then it might not be long before the majority of people in the U.S. subscribe to a minimum of three subscriptions.
Source: TVB Europe
