Watch more ads for a lower streaming bill – do global consumers agree?

Two-thirds of global consumers say they’ve cancelled a streaming subscription in the last six months to cut costs. But, given the option, are consumers willing to watch more commercials than they do now in exchange for a lower monthly bill?

Data from a new YouGov survey reveals that more than a third (36%) of global respondents are willing to make this trade. Looking at data from all 18 markets reveals a whole gamut of opinions. More than half the population in UAE and Mexico (53% both) are ready to spend more time watching a series/movie with all the ads in between if that means they will have to pay less.

Markets in the APAC region find themselves outpacing the global audience with two registering more than 50% of their consumers in agreement – India (52%) and Indonesia (50%). However, while that is the case, Australians are also more likely than global respondents to disagree (32%), indicating that this is a market where the transition to ad-funded streaming might be trickier to make.

Spain is the only country from the European region where around 45% of consumers are willing to spend extra time watching content with ads. In a few of the other countries in this region, consumers are more likely to disagree with the statement than to agree with it. Half of Swedish consumers are not willing to put up with more commercials than they already do (50%). And consumers in GB and Denmark are not far behind (44% and 46% respectively).

Consumers in Canada and the US are divided in their opinion. Similar shares of consumers in both markets agree and disagree with the statement – Canada (34% and 33%) and US (32% and 35%).

Overall, younger consumers are possibly more likely to be concerned about costs and so a higher share are willing to watch more ads – 43% of 18-24-year-olds vs. 26% of those aged 55+. This is true in all individual markets surveyed except for UAE and Hong Kong where those over 55+ are slightly more likely to agree to more ads than 18-24-year-olds.

Explore our living data – for free

To receive monthly insights about media and content register here.

To read YouGov’s latest intelligence on the media industry explore here.

Get quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences using YouGov RealTime Omnibus

Make smarter business decisions with better intelligence. Understand exactly what your audience is thinking by leveraging our panel of 20 million+ members. Speak with us today.

Methodology: YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 514 and 2004 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in July 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.