A growing number of subscribers to video streaming services such as Netflix (NFLX) and Hulu (DIS) are pausing their subscriptions with plans to return in the future — rather than canceling them permanently — according to data from the streaming analytics firm Antenna.
About 57 million subscriptions to video streaming platforms between September 2023 and August 2024 came from users who were rejoining a service they canceled within the previous 12 months. This accounted for 34% of the total 169 million subscriptions during that period. In 2022, re-joiners only accounted for 29.8% of subscriptions that year.
However, not all streaming services are being affected to the same degree. Newer, sports-heavy platforms and services focused primarily on big-budget, critically acclaimed TV series have the highest number of users that have subscribed to their platforms multiple times. This suggests subscriptions to these services are more prone to being tied to the season of a particular show or sport.
Conversely, established brands with household names and large media libraries have a higher percentage of subscribers who have never paused their subscriptions.
Here is a breakdown of major streaming services and the percentage of their users who have previously paused their subscriptions.
