Consumers paying for streaming aren’t expecting ad breaks: report

Ad breaks might come as a jump scare to consumers who are shelling out for streaming subscriptions.

Nearly 80% of consumers “expect to see no ads at all” if they’re paying for a streaming service, according to new research from free streaming service Tubi and The Harris Poll. Around the same percentage of consumers said they were okay with watching ads in order to watch programming for free.

According to the report, released this week, viewers are shelling out an average of $129 per month for streaming services and other paid TV subscriptions, a 7.5% YoY jump, and subscribe to nearly seven streamers in total—an average of 3.9 paid streamers and 2.6 free ones.

Gen Z consumers are particularly sensitive to rising costs: 76% indicated they have or would cancel a streaming subscription due to a price hike.

“All’s fair in streaming and marketing—but not if you’re paying for it,” the report read.

The report, called The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming, surveyed 2,500 adults 18 years and older in the US who stream video for at least an hour each week, asking them about ad openness, viewing habits, and the content they prefer. We’ve rounded up some highlights from the report below:

Not for me? Eighty-one percent of Gen Z respondents said they’d think about taking action around an intriguing ad served to them on streaming, but 73% said that streaming ads “seem misaligned with my personal preferences.”

Watch party: More than half of those surveyed said they spent between one and three hours streaming TV and movies each sitting, with nearly 40% saying they stream for at least three hours. Half of the Gen Z viewers surveyed said that while they work from home, they stream programming—and nearly the same percentage said they have lied to their bosses about their viewing habits.

Keep it interesting: Viewers have a lot of love for indie content, the report found, with 70% saying they want to see more TV and movies from smaller or independent creators, a 4% YoY increase. A majority of the Gen Z consumers surveyed (73%) also indicated they prefer original content over remakes or franchises.

But independent or original programming doesn’t necessarily have to be new to fit the bill: Two-thirds of those surveyed said they like discovering content that is at least a decade old.