How loyal are consumers to their favorite streaming services? It depends on their age.
A recent survey of more than 1,000 American adults found most baby boomers chose Amazon Prime of their streamer of choice, while Generation X consumers tend to be fans of ESPN+. Millennial consumers are big Hulu watchers, while members of Generation Z gravitate to Apple TV.
Gen Z also spends the most on subscriptions, paying $377 a month. And respondents across all generations reported spending an average of about $278 per month on streaming services.
As for the types of subscriptions Americans spend their money on, video streaming is easily the most popular, with 96% of respondents saying they subscribe to a streaming platform. Music streaming services followed at 80%, with food subscriptions in third place at 57%.
Meanwhile, recent research also shows that the number of cable or satellite TV subscribers has dropped significantly since 2015.
Between 2015 to 2021, the number of Americans who watch television via cable or satellite fell from 76% to 56%.
The reason? For 71% of U.S. adults, it’s that they have an easier time watching the content they want online, while 69% said cable and satellite services are too expensive. Another 45% reported they simply do not watch TV.
Interestingly, 61% of those surveyed who did not currently have a cable or satellite subscription said they had one in the past, a sign of the trend known as “cord cutting,” as the changing face of connectivity drives consumers to prefer internet streaming services over traditional media.
The most striking change occurred with consumers 30 to 49 years old: just 46% of them got their TV service through cable or satellite in 2021, as opposed to 73% in 2015. That was followed by Americans aged 50 and older, who showed a 14 percentage-point drop in cable and satellite TV subscriptions.
For more on the subscription commerce ecosystem, download this month’s Subscription Commerce Tracker, a PYMNTS and Vindicia collaboration.