Households in the United Kingdom are abandoning streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ in order to save money as they face the greatest reduction in disposable income since the 1950s.
As people were forced to spend more time at home due to the pandemic, streaming services grew in popularity. With lockdown restrictions lifted, Britons cancelled approximately 1.5 million subscriptions in the first three months of 2022, an increase of approximately 500,000 from the previous quarter. According to a new report by media consultancy Kantar, more than a third did so to save money.
Inflation in the United Kingdom has reached a record 7 percent last month, forcing many households to cut back on non-essential spending, and subscriptions to video streaming platforms are particularly vulnerable.
According to the report, “households are beginning to seriously prioritise where and how their disposable income is spent.”
According to Kantar, the number of UK households with at least one subscription fell by 215,000 during the quarter, with a record 38% of customers planning to cancel subscriptions within the next three months due to financial concerns.
“The proportion of consumers planning to cancel services and citing the primary reason as ‘wanting to save money’ has risen to its highest level ever, at 38 percent, up from 29 percent in Q4 ’21,” according to the report.
