Ads The Biggest Reason Users Cancel Streaming Services A new study has found that roughly 70% of streaming service subscribers have never canceled their subscriptions, and among those that have -- the most common reason was: advertisements. According to a new study by IBM's Clearleap (pdf, hat tip Extreamist), Netflix is the streaming service least likely to be cancelled. 40% of consumers that say they have cancelled either Hulu or Amazon, with only 30% having cancelled a Netflix subscription. According to the study, 17% of streaming customers "cancelled" their subscription simply because they let their on-file credit card information expire.

But again, it was ads that were the biggest reason users gave for giving up on streaming. "We asked our survey participants what factors were most likely to make them leave a service," states the study. "Usually cost is the number one reason people cite for cancelling, but in our survey, more people indicated they were bothered by ads." The study found that 27% of those surveyed said that too many ads would make them quit, compared to 25% citing cost. Nearly 20% stated it was a lack of good content to watch that would drive them away, and another 17% stated that technical problems would cause them to leave. Fortunately for the streaming providers, the study also found that the lion's share of the blame for streaming performance is directed to a customer's ISP, even if they're not at fault. In fact, 71% of those surveyed stated they'd blame their ISP first. The study also took a look at password sharing, something Netflix and HBO have embraced, but executives at places like Charter have declared to be a The study also took a look at password sharing, something Netflix and HBO have embraced, but executives at places like Charter have declared to be a mortal sin . According to the survey, 27% say they've shared streaming service passwords, though the majority of sharing seems to happen within a family -- with just over 4% sharing their password outside the family circle.







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Most recommended from 68 comments



OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

join:2006-02-23

Indian Orchard, MA 39 recommendations OldschoolDSL Premium Member Pay to have ads? This seems like a crazy concept. Why would I pay a subscription fee, money out of my own pocket, so you could show me ads that someone paid you to show me?!



Thankfully Netflix understands this and does not have ads.

SuperSpy

join:2012-06-15

Coldwater, MI 19 recommendations SuperSpy Member YES This is precisely why I get nearly all my content from Netflix. You don't notice how insane the ad breaks are until you don't see them for a few weeks, then try to watch TV at a friend's house. This is what cable was supposed to be 30 years ago before everyone got greedy.

spewak

R.I.P Dadkins

Premium Member

join:2001-08-07

Elk Grove, CA 18 recommendations spewak Premium Member Hulu Here's looking at you kid!

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 14 recommendations battleop Member Annoying Ads. Ads don't bother me that much if they are not frequent and less than 30 seconds at a time. What pisses me off to the point I want to beat someone is when you hear the same freaking as break after break after break and it's ever 5 minutes.



I refuse to visit the weather channel's site because I go sick of the same stupid commercial that ran between every video clip ever 30 seconds. At this point I don't care if they fixed that or not. I won't do business with companies that choose to annoy the hell out of you with their advertising. p51d007

Naa-P51d Mustang

join:2002-06-07

Springfield, MO 7 recommendations p51d007 Member In your face ads I use to wear out the mute button on the remote...I can't stand ads that much. LOUD and annoying.

Same reason I use an ad blocker on the web. If ads were static, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but

especially the AUTO PLAYING VIDEO ads...you know how loud those are late at night or very early in

the morning, if you wake up, can't get back to sleep?

I stopped using XM radio, after they merged with Sirus...because some of the old rock channels started

running those ANNOYING MTV V-JAYS.... "Oh I remember when so and so came to the studio and did

this or that, and I remember....WHO FLIPPING CARES. And others that have to talk over the songs.

I just run pandora/spotify....at least until THEY too get stupid, and run ads.

I understand content has to be paid for, but good grief! You can't WATCH a movie on cable anymore.

A simple 1:50 minute movie, clocks in at THREE HOURS...that's over an HOUR of commercials! b10010011

Whats a Posting tag?

join:2004-09-07

Bellingham, WA 7 recommendations b10010011 Member Keep up the hard work there Captain Obvious The only reason I would pay for a streaming service is to avoid commercials.



If I have to watch commercials then I might as well watch it for free when it is broadcast or record it on my Tivo and skip the ads when I watch it.

Corehhi

join:2002-01-28

Bluffton, SC 5 recommendations Corehhi Member I'm alright with ads if it's free If I'm paying for a monthly service then it better not have ads. I'll pay an extra buck for NetFlix to be ad free, my family certainly gets their money's worth out of it and I have never seen an ad on Amazon prime but I don't use that one that much.



I use to use Hulu back when it was free and the ads were alright until basically all the free stuff went bye bye. I'm not paying for Hulu and watching their ads. Pick one or the other.

Deckoh

Premium Member

join:2002-07-24

San Diego, CA 3 recommendations Deckoh Premium Member ads I have Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix.. I'm my experience Prime has no ads, Netflix has no ads and Hulu (ad free account) has no ads with the exception of short 10 second intro to the show stating when new episodes are available. Off topic, but within the same realm, Apple TV with TWC login credentials (cable login channels) is horrible, you will see the same add for every commercial break sometimes twice in a row for the entire episode. my 2 cents

emjayef

join:2007-11-25

Pleasant Hill, CA Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X

TP-Link Archer C9

Obihai OBi200

3 recommendations emjayef Member I'm not surprised I quit watching broadcast TV due to the ads. Perhaps it was just that there got to be too many of them, but I don't like the interruptions at all. So, even when I had TV, I rarely watched it, preferring Netflix instead. But, it wasn't just the ads, because I've had promotions in the past, like free HBO for a while, or Cable TV's streaming, but the UI for Netflix was so much better that I didn't want to bother with TV at all. So, I think it's more that I don't like to waste time either searching for what I want, or waiting for it. I don't have time to watch that much; it's mainly at dinner, so I just want to get to what I want as quickly as possible.