As streaming reaches record-high viewership, so does the importance of navigation, visibility, and subscription. Explore CTAM’s curated stats, trends, and insights revealing how perceptions and usage habits are shifting.
Streaming Viewership
- Current viewing share across streamers continued YouTube strength with competition closing the gap (Nielsen Media Distributor Gauge for December 2025)
- Streaming Shatters Multiple Records in December 2025 with 47.5% of TV Viewing (Nielsen)
- Paid live TV bundles (MVPD + vMVPD) grew by half a million subscribers in Q3 2025, reaching 69.1 million total. (MoffettNathanson, 2025)
The improved quarterly performance was driven by:
- The fewest subscriber losses for traditional pay TV providers in seven years.
- Growth across most vMVPD services.
- A significant seasonal boost from the return of the National Football League (NFL) season.
- Spectrum led MVPD subscriber stability in Q3 2025 at 12.6 million subscribers thanks to strategic SVOD bundling that gave TV Select customers over $100 in streaming value, supporting retention. (MoffettNathanson, 2025)
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- YouTube TV continues to drive growth in the vMVPD sector, adding an estimated 750,000 subscribers in Q3 2025 to reach approximately 10 million total subscribers. (MoffettNathanson, 2025)
Viewer Perceptions
- 63% say the top reason for watching content released 10+ years ago is because it’s simply good (vs. 23% who choose what to watch based on the newness of the content). (The Stream, HarrisX/Tubi, 2026)
- More than 40% of consumers eye social media video and streaming as “watching TV”. (Deloitte, October 2025)
- Deloitte reported that over two-fifths (41%) of surveyed consumers consider watching videos on social media and streaming platforms as forms of “watching TV.” (Deloitte, October 2025)
Consumer Subscription Behavior
- 74% of people have (or would) cancel their streaming subscription because of a price increase. (The Stream, HarrisX/Tubi, 2026)
- Half of viewers (and 65% of Gen Z) say that password crackdowns and having to pay for ad-supported content are major reasons to cancel a subscription. (The Stream, HarrisX/Tubi, 2026)
- 67% would not share their streaming login information with a potential partner unless they were seriously dating. (The Stream, HarrisX/Tubi, 2026)
- 67% have skipped a new show or movie once they realized they would have to pay for streaming service. (The Stream, HarrisX/Tubi, 2026)
- About half (49%) of consumers changed their streaming subscriptions in the past six months. (YouGov Survey, September 2025)
- Two-thirds (66%) of consumers cancel streaming services because they are too expensive. (YouGov Survey, September 2025)
- Three-quarters (74%) of consumers consider cost when choosing a streaming service. (YouGov Survey, September 2025)
- Over half (51%) of consumers focus on content variety when choosing a streaming service. (YouGov Survey, September 2025)
- Over one-third (36%) of consumers pay for at least one streaming service they haven’t used in six months. (YouGov Survey, September 2025)
