Survey From Free, Ad-Supported Tubi Finds Viewers Don’t Like Paying For Ads

Streaming TV viewers are willing to tolerate commercials–but not when they’re paying to subscribe to a streaming service, according to a new survey from Tubi, Fox’s free ad-supported streaming service.

The survey contains some fun stats about streaming at work and how close people have to be to share passwords, so keep on reading.

As a reminder, many of the successful subscription streaming services started out commercial free. Think Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+. At the same time, other streamers were free, but viewers had to watch commercials. Many of those services grew as well, such as Tubi, Paramount’s Pluto TV, The Roku Channel. A plethora of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels launched to feed the free beast.

Eventually though, the subscription streaming prices started rising and those services started launching cheaper ad supported versions. That means consumers were paying and watching commercials–sort of like cable. That might be good for streaming TV profits, but what do consumers think? According to Tubi’s survey, done with the Harris Poll folks, there’s a lot of mixed emotions.

Per the new Tubi report, 79% of consumers said that if they’re paying for a streaming service, they don’t expect to see any ads at all. But if the service is free, 81% said that watching some commercials is a fair trade-off for access to content.

That said, 63%, up 5% from a year ago, said they’re willing to endure commercials in exchange for a lower subscription price and get the equivalent of an extra cup of coffee each month.

Those commercials can be useful for advertisers and spark consumer behaviors among streamers, the survey found. If the ads align with their interests, 59% of viewers said they would do something an advertiser would want. This was especially true among Gen Z streamers (81%), but 73% of them agreed with the statement “the ads I see on streaming seem misaligned with my personal preferences,” which doesn’t say much for the current state of tech stacks. Nearly half of that cohort (46%) said those mis-targeted ads disrupt their streaming experience. Not a good thing for either the advertisers or streamers.

Streaming, once a budget alternative to cable, has become more expensive. According to the study, consumers spent $129 a month on streaming and cable, which is more than the $109 a month they spend on clothing.

Gen Z viewers are getting sticker shock, with 76% saying they have, or would, end a streaming subscription because of a price increase. Not good for an industry where churn is a problem.

Other complaints from consumers that could lead to a subscription getting cancelled included the removal of content (66%), tiered memberships (63%), and password crackdowns (45%).

More than a quarter of Gen Z streamers said they expect to use fewer streaming services in the future than they currently have.

According to the survey 67% of Gen Z streamers have ended a subscription when they finished watching a show they liked and they didn’t see other compelling programming on the platform.

It’s time for some fun stats from the study. About half of the Gen Z consumers surveyed said they were streaming while working from home, and 48% said they were lying to their bosses about it. That’s some naughty post-Covid behavior.

More than half of Gen Z respondents (53%) said they have put off working because they had to finish a show they were binge-watching, and 52% say they don’t want to return to the office because they’ll miss streaming during the workday. (Even after returning to the office, some are still streaming at work, with 38% of viewers saying.they stream at their job site.)

And sharing passwords–a big concern to streaming services–has become a relationship indicator for GenXers

The survey found that 70% of singles won’t share their streaming login with a romantic partner until the relationship becomes serious, while 44% of Gen Z have admitted to using an ex’s streaming login even after they broke up. It’s a dealbreaker: 35% of Gen Z and Millennials have ended relationships over incompatible viewing habits, the survey found.

In terms of streaming content, viewers seem to want something old and something new.

According to the survey, 70% of viewers–up 4% from last year–said they wanted stories they haven’t heard before, told in ways they haven’t seen, with voices that actually feel like theirs. In general, viewers want to see more TV shows and movies that are independent or from smaller creators.

It was a stronger trend among Gen Z viewers with:73% saying they prefer to watch original content over franchises or remakes, and 72% saying they wish they had more of a say in the type of content that gets made for streaming services – flagging an opportunity to create stories different from the ones they typically seeing on streaming.

DEI trigger warning:  75% of those surveyed said they were interested in seeing diversity and representation of different identities when they stream TV and movies.

Tubi notes that last October it launched Stubios, an interactive, fan-fueled studio program that connects non-traditional creators and advertisers with audiences.

Already, Stubios has four projects in production, pulled from more than 2,000 applications sent in during open submissions. Tubi has committed to funding and producing the top-voted title, distributing it to over 97 million Tubi viewers, and greenlighting a second project.

Viewers are also looking for what the study called “new-stalgia, ” which happens when a classic show is discovered by a new generation.

The study found that 66% of viewers said they are enjoying discovering content that was originally released more than 10 years ago, and 82% say they browse streaming services to discover older content.

This “new-stalgia” can bring generations together. Almost half (49%) of viewers say they connect over “Nostalgic TV shows / movies we used to watch together” and “TV shows / movies that one group grew up with, but the other group has never seen.”

“Tubi has built a deeply engaged audience by providing a trusted, premium streaming experience where viewers can freely discover content that speaks to them—without barriers or subscription fees,” said Cynthia Clevenger, senior VP of B2B Marketing at Tubi. “Today’s viewers are more selective than ever, carefully choosing where to invest their time and attention. As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, these insights offer marketers a valuable opportunity to connect with key audiences—like Gen Z—in an environment where they find real value through diverse content, seamless ad integration, and a viewing experience that mirrors paid services without the cost.”

This survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Tubi from October 21, 2024, to November 1, 2024, among 2,502 18+ U.S. adults that stream video at least 1 hour a week. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated, Tubi said.