A Guide To Streaming Services

Competition is growing. That’s giving you more choices—and a chance to save money.

- By Emma Patch

AMERICANS HAVE SLASHED SPENDING ON restaurants, travel and live entertainment. But we’re spending more on subscription services—especially video-streaming subscriptions. A recent survey on digital media trends by Deloitte, the tax and business consulting firm, found that not only have more consumers signed up for video streaming services since the COVID shutdowns began, but the average streamer pays for more services than ever.

“In the early days of the coronavirus, there was a significant shift in viewership in all kinds of TV,” says Bruce Leichtman, of Leichtman Research Group, which surveys TV-consumer behavior. With 80% of Americans owning internet-capable TVs, the vast majority have both a pay TV service (meaning cable or satellite TV, or live TV streaming over the internet) and a streaming video-on-demand service (such as Netflix or Hulu), according to Leichtman.

Since the pandemic hit the U.S., nearly 10% of consumers have both added and canceled at least one paid video-streaming service, according to the Deloitte survey, suggesting that more churn is in store as consumers seek more value. And as more media providers join the fray—including Disney+, Apple TV+ and HBO Max—competition is growing and putting pressure on providers to expand content and reduce prices.