Tubi Study Finds Americans Are Spending $129 On Streaming Services Each Month

A new study by Tubi found that Americans are paying around $129 each month on streaming services. The study, conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, looks to provide insight into changes in consumer behavior and how marketers can better reach these changing audiences.

According to The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming study, the $129 combined cost on streaming services (including paid TV subscriptions) represents a year-over-year increase of 7.5%. The study also found that the rising costs of streaming services has led to more than half of respondents (56%) monitoring streaming services more closely to avoid overspending.

Speaking of price increases, Gen Z viewers appear to be the most critical of the rising costs, with 76% stating they have or would cancel streaming subscriptions over the price.

“Today’s viewers are more selective than ever, carefully choosing where to invest their time and attention,” said Cynthia Clevenger, Senior Vice President of B2B Marketing at Tubi.

While the use of ads can help to lower the cost, it would seem that paying for an ad-supported plan continues to be an unpopular solution for many. The study found that 79% of consumers expect an ad-free viewing experience when paying for a streaming service.

In contrast, the use of free streaming services has continued to rise over the past few years, and the latest study seemed to confirm consumers are generally happy with this arrangement, with 81% stating ads are a fair trade-off for access to free content.

This point was further highlighted when looking at the breakdown of streaming services in general, which seemed to show the use of free services is getting closer to the use of paid services. The study found that viewers are switching between as many as seven streaming services on average, and this breaks down to include 3.9 paid streaming services and 2.6 free services.

For reference, the study involved 2,502 18+ adults that stream video at least 1 hour a week and was conducted in the United States from October 21, 2024, to November 1, 2024.