US research highlights widespread streamer subscription fatigue

New research from payment solutions provider Bango should be causing the alarm bells to ring at leading SVOD providers, as they plough billions of dollars into their great pivot towards streaming. Based on an independent survey of 2500 SVOD subscribers, Bango found that new subscription services launched into the US market “are no longer greeted with excitement from consumers. The market is reaching saturation, with 72% of users saying there are “too many subscription services” now. Two-thirds (65%) say they simply can’t afford to subscribe to all these services.”

It’s not just cost that is causing consumers headaches, however, it’s also the challenge of keeping up with all of the services they have signed up to. A third of US subscribers (34%) pay for a subscription that they never use while 45% find it too hard to keep track of where and how they signed up to subscriptions. “Consumers have lost track of their subscriptions due to a labyrinth of accounts, bills and settings,” observes Bango. “Due to the fragmented nature of the subscription economy, all these things are turning into an admin headache for millions of consumers.”

Bango identified a number of key frustrations. Top of the list is managing and updating personal details (48%) followed by accessing accounts across multiple devices (47%). “Frustrations stem from the fact that subscription services remain totally disjointed, with 52% of users feeling ‘annoyed’ that they can’t manage all of their subscriptions in one place. To overcome this headache, users want to centralise apps and billing. In fact, a massive 78% want one single platform to manage all of their subscriptions.”

Bango’s survey found that 46% of consumers are frustrated that they can’t take ‘payment holidays’, while 56% want to be able to toggle subscriptions on and off as they like. “This isn’t just about affordability, it’s about content access,” says Bango. “According to data from Samba TV, most viewers watch only one programme per streaming service, emphasising the need to dip in and out of different subscriptions.”

This last complaint is unlikely to cut much slack with streamers which are battling to avoid scenarios where consumers sign up for a single show then churn out afterwards. But it does highlight a significant flaw in the ‘walled garden’ streaming ecosystem.