Cutting the cord again? Americans are spending less on streaming as fatigue and options grow

[Shawn Knight]

In a nutshell: The average American spent $42.38 per month on streaming-based subscriptions in 2024. That works out to just over $500 per year - or around $30,000 over a lifetime - but is actually less than the previous year by a significant margin.

According to Review's annual State of Consumer Media Spending Report, the average American spent 23 percent less on streaming subscriptions in 2024 than in 2023.

Streaming services are a way of life for millions seeking their entertainment fix. The sheer number of services available to choose from makes it easy to keep up with current shows or rewatch your favorites on your own time, but too much of a good thing can sometimes backfire as some are finding out.

Of those surveyed, 27.8 percent said they are experiencing streaming fatigue - or the feeling of being overwhelmed by the growing number of streaming apps on the market. And with the cost of goods and services at an all-time high, it's hitting folks in the wallet as well.

The report additionally found that the average American has two streaming subscriptions, and watches three hours and 49 minutes of content each day. More than a quarter of subscribers - 26.5 percent - share subscriptions with others to save on cost although with recent crackdowns on password sharing, that might not be an option for much longer.

As such, Reviews recommends downsizing the number of subscriptions you pay for each month or spending more time using free services if you're looking to cut down on costs in the New Year. For example, you could stagger subscriptions by signing up for a service temporarily to watch a specific show or movie and canceling when you are finished. It's also wise to keep an eye out for free trials, discounts, and limited-time streaming deals like those occasionally offered from Internet and mobile providers.

I'm planning on cutting my live TV service in the next few weeks once college football wraps up and look forward to the extra savings each month.

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Cutting the cord again? Americans are spending less on streaming as fatigue and options grow

 

[human7]

The "too much content" problem isn't just for streaming, it's everywhere. Netflix's CEO once said that their biggest competitor is sleep. So not only does streaming have to compete with streaming, it has to compete with all the other entertainment out there.

I often find that my streaming subscriptions go underutilized because I'm spending so much time doing something else. For me that's usually time playing video games or watching all the cutscenes in a video game (and why do I watch video game cutscenes? because there's too many games in my backlog or on my wishlist for me dedicate time to playing).

Pausing subscriptions definitely helps (for Netflix, it gives you an option to pause for a month when you try to cancel), especially if you know which shows you intend to watch (and thus which streaming services you'll be using).

Would be nice to have a centralized service that doesn't cost too much, though. Pirating is back up for a reason: the inconvenience (and cost) of juggling it all.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Who has 4 hours a day for TV?!

40 mins is my max TV consumption (1 hr show without commercials) and that is a few days a week.

I only keep Netflix 1080p and one something else if I am watching a show on that service. I don't count Prime as I have that for the shipping and rarely find good shows there.

 

[GABulldog]

I cut down on the streaming services, went from 4 to 2. The problem I see is streaming services like Disney+ and Paramount make some of their movies and shows proprietary, so you can't watch it on any other streaming service. For example with Disney+, you can't watch Star Wars on any other streaming service except for Disney+. I'm not going to pay whatever amount of money a month they charge for Disney+ just so I can watch it. They only do that because they hate Netflix.

Trying to grab my head around it, how Disney has over 153 million paid subscribers but somehow they keep losing money on their streaming service. If every paid subscriber pays $10 a month that would bring a little over 1.5 billion dollars a year. That don't include the ad revenue they receive. The math just don't add up.

 

[wiyosaya]

I only have one streaming service. Netflix. I plan on subscribing for a couple of months to Disney in the not-too-distant future, but I will only subscribe long enough to catch up on what I want to watch and then I will quit again. All these services are just not worth giving up my life to sit in front of a screen for untold hours. Even if I did, I would not be able to watch all that is available or that interests me.

Nor am I willing to give them all a siphon into my wallet. More than one service is too much for us. My wife and I cannot even watch all the content we would like to on Netflix.

Plus, we get quite a bit of content OTA for free, not to mention "borrowing" DVD/Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray from our local library system at an extremely nominal rate.

So, with a T-mobile subsidized subscription to Netflix, we spend about $9.00/mo on streaming services.

 

[wiyosaya]

They only do that because they hate Netflix.

IMO, they only do it because they think they have a lock on the content and their subscribers will pay anything for it. With Star Wars, IMO, they have turned much of it into Light-sabre battle Bullsh!t.

In the past, they have found out otherwise - they started releasing their content on disc, and much of the time, I wait for it to come out on disc and then borrow it from my local library.

 

[GoldenGoat]

I don't really like the streaming model. I would prefer to just rent the content I want to watch, but the problem with that method is there are many streaming exclusives, and they charge way more money for one-time rentals, which doesn't really make sense economically,

 

[toooooot]

I only have one streaming service. Netflix. I plan on subscribing for a couple of months to Disney in the not-too-distant future, but I will only subscribe long enough to catch up on what I want to watch and then I will quit again. All these services are just not worth giving up my life to sit in front of a screen for untold hours. Even if I did, I would not be able to watch all that is available or that interests me.

Nor am I willing to give them all a siphon into my wallet. More than one service is too much for us. My wife and I cannot even watch all the content we would like to on Netflix.

Plus, we get quite a bit of content OTA for free, not to mention "borrowing" DVD/Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray from our local library system at an extremely nominal rate.

So, with a T-mobile subsidized subscription to Netflix, we spend about $9.00/mo on streaming services.

I am going to bet that in the future, streaming companies will make it harder for people to jump between services to only watch good stuff. It is like with password sharing, there is too much money that they see as unnecessarily lost. What service makes more than 1 month of stuff worth to watch? Netflix maybe. The rest have literally one or two things that are undeniably good to see per year.

 

[RudyBob]

A great amount of content is actually the same. I spend time looking for new to me content and can be successful. But then that new content also becomes repetitive. In the last few days I have been watching civvie discuss games I have played and it's good but it will get old fast. Some of you may recall buying a new album every week because you got tired of listening to the old one. It's the same with streaming content. I subscribe to two services, Dailywire+ and Sirius XM. I can watch Green Acres for free and there is no way I am paying for episodic shows no matter the era

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I'm honestly burned out on TV/movies in general as a form of entertainment. I'd much rather *do* something (video games, practice guitar, play sports ball with the kids, hike, bike ride, ANYTHING) than watch TV nowadays.

Back in the day OTA/syndicated shows had to build in fake tension before the commercial break to make sure the viewer did switch channels during the commercial (which is why so many old shows had silly "cliffhangers" right before a commercial break).

With streaming the writers and staff seem to have completely lost the plot and any intrigue or interest is built into the first 2 or 3 episodes (to hook you) and then the last Episode (to make sure you stay subscribed and come back for more). The 5 or so episodes between the first and last are almost always meandering low-budget filler and "character building". It's yawn inducing.

Go back and watch one of those old syndicated shows (Old Trek, or X-files or something) even the bad episodes keep you at the edge of your seat the whole time. There is an actual feeling of interest and engagement with the show.

 

[RudyBob]

I plan on subscribing for a couple of months to Disney in the not-too-distant future, but I will only subscribe long enough to catch up on what I want to watch .

Looking forward to the "Snow White" reboot, eh?

 

[wiyosaya]

Looking forward to the "Snow White" reboot, eh?

Seems definitely like you are. Or is it "Mars Needs Musk" that you are waiting for?

 

[wiyosaya]

In the last few days I have been watching civvie discuss games I have played and it's good but it will get old fast.

Ah, you have a discerning Eye/Ear. I never would have guessed that discussions of games are so interesting.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'm honestly burned out on TV/movies in general as a form of entertainment. I'd much rather *do* something (video games, practice guitar, play sports ball with the kids, hike, bike ride, ANYTHING) than watch TV nowadays.

Back in the day OTA/syndicated shows had to build in fake tension before the commercial break to make sure the viewer did switch channels during the commercial (which is why so many old shows had silly "cliffhangers" right before a commercial break).

With streaming the writers and staff seem to have completely lost the plot and any intrigue or interest is built into the first 2 or 3 episodes (to hook you) and then the last Episode (to make sure you stay subscribed and come back for more). The 5 or so episodes between the first and last are almost always meandering low-budget filler and "character building". It's yawn inducing.

Go back and watch one of those old syndicated shows (Old Trek, or X-files or something) even the bad episodes keep you at the edge of your seat the whole time. There is an actual feeling of interest and engagement with the show.

Most of this is down to "modern writers" who go to college for almost a decade then get hired to write. They've rarely had much in the way of real world experiences or struggles and thus really have issues writing stories that feel real or interesting to normal people.

It's the same reason dialog is so stilted and just plain weird.

 

[pnntmp]

That's perfectly normal, there's very little new stuff worth watching.
Best approach is to subscribe to 1 service for a short period, like a month or two, and then switch to another and keep rotating them. If the current average is 2 subscriptions, which makes little sense, and the new average becomes 1 subscription, there will be a similar drop in 2025.

I currently have Netflix, and will dump it later this month for Apple. There's plenty of stuff on Netflix, but their own production is of awfully low quality, boring, with preposterous plots, plenty of woke nonsense etc. There are some notable exceptions like House of Cards, but they are a few. For everything else, pretty much everything I searched for is missing - we don't have X, but here are some <list of unrelated stuff>
I guess it's the same for other services, after some time there's nothing to watch.

And of course there are torrents ..

 

[RudyBob]

Seems definitely like you are. Or is it "Mars Needs Musk" that you are waiting for?

I got ya first..always a follower wiyo!! Happy New Year

 

[kiwigraeme]

Most of this is down to "modern writers" who go to college for almost a decade then get hired to write. They've rarely had much in the way of real world experiences or struggles and thus really have issues writing stories that feel real or interesting to normal people.

It's the same reason dialog is so stilted and just plain weird.

Maybe many get written by a committee as well
But you have a point remember watching they "highly" rated Good Will hunting I think written by Will Damon?? . Really it just came across as a 15 years old fantasy. I'm 15 and outsider, disrespected , but I'm really Amazeballs , a savant genius . I'll show 'em I'll show 'em FN all . Hey says everyone you are bestest evah you get all the rewards -ie a very old trope and fantasy of 50% of the human population ( well it's least simple form - I'm misunderstood , when you get to know me . add in the std anime trope or one's scammers use - You are special your are very spiritual or with anime you have secret powers and you deserve a harem )

I think time pressure also applies . Some scripts the dialog is so tight - eg "some like it hot" , but many get rejigged on set by actors/director/writer when heard aloud.
Plus shows have shorter runs, not allowed to develop more organically. So the skill of world building in a natural non tedious manner is needed

 

[HomeyBroDude]

I cut the cord many years ago. The TV gets turned on at night for the wife. I would rather read on my laptop. I think my entertainment cost per month is around $6/7 for MHZ, $5/6 for Masterpiece Theater and $80 for 1GB d/l speeds for internet. Archive dot org has more books than I will ever need to read, gratis to d/l.

 

[p51d007]

Cut the cord! Cut the cord! That was the cry years ago about cable. It's too expensive!
So, a lot of people picked up Netflix, which pretty much had all the movies. THEN the movie studios said wait a minute...people will pay? Let's pull the content WE own off Netflix and start our own streaming channel. Now, you have Disney, Paramount, and multiple others that have their own services and by the time you have subscribed to a lot of them to watch what you want, you'll end up paying about the same or a little less than cable.
Pirating has gone back up!

 

[m4a4]

I saw the writing on the wall when Netflix couldn't stay the one convenient place for all the "good" movies. Now I just home media server stuff, as I know what I want to watch will be on there and easily found.

Too many big companies wanted too much of the pie, when there isn't a big enough pie to go around. So I found a different pie...

 

[deathspeed]

Ahoy, mateys!

 

[SirDigby]

Y'all I work for a comcast subsidiary and my bonus is tied to company performance, can you not cut the cord

 

[fadingfool]

I pay for 1 streaming service at a time. Cancel when it becomes difficult to find something I want to watch and have a look at the others (at the moment have apple + but will drop that soon). I don't have the time to watch more TV than that. Thankfully by the time I rotate there are normally offers on the other services to pick from so rarely pay the full rate. Would be nice to have just the one subscription but outside of becoming a pirate there isn't this option.

 

[EnTaroTzula]

Heres an idea

I used to pay 75-100 a month for cable
now you can pay close to that for a couple of streaming services
what if big cable just bundle up a bunch of streaming services and charge you 75-100 a month anyways?

/s

 

[wiyosaya]

I got ya first..always a follower wiyo!! Happy New Year

Careful what you wish for...

Happy New Year to you, too, Rudy.