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UK viewers are not simply abandoning television for streaming—or returning to traditional TV. They are spreading their viewing across broadcaster programmes, catch-up services, subscription platforms, ad-supported plans, YouTube on television sets and live events. Subscription access has levelled off at about seven in ten homes, while broadcaster on-demand viewing and ad-tier use have grown.
Is streaming still growing in the UK?
Subscription streaming is widespread, but household access has settled into a mature market rather than climbing rapidly. Barb’s Q1 2026 Establishment Survey found that 20.8 million UK homes, or 70.3%, had access to at least one subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service. That was slightly above the previous quarter, while Ofcom describes household SVOD take-up as relatively constant over recent years. The two measures point to a plateau, not a broad decline.
Barb counts household access, not the number of active viewers, individual subscriptions or hours watched. A home can have more than one service, so the service totals overlap.
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| Service | UK homes with access, Q1 2026 | Share of UK homes |
|---|---|---|
| At least one SVOD service | 20.8 million | 70.3% |
| Netflix | 18.1 million | 61.0% |
| Amazon Prime Video | 13.7 million | 46.1% |
| Disney+ | 7.8 million | 26.1% |
Source: Barb’s Q1 2026 household-access data. The service figures are not mutually exclusive.
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Are people cancelling Netflix?
Some subscribers report cancelling, but the survey evidence does not show that all—or even most—UK households are cutting back. In Ofcom’s 2025 VoD Survey, people who said they had cancelled Netflix most often pointed to value and cost: 24% said they did not use it enough to justify the expense, 23% cited a subscription price increase and 22% said it was too expensive.
Ofcom found similar cost concerns in reported cancellations of other services: insufficient use for the expense and expense were among the leading reasons for cancelling Amazon Prime, while expense was the leading reason for Disney+. These are responses from people reporting a cancellation, not a measurement of why the entire market is changing.
Why are streaming subscriptions getting more expensive?
The figures support a narrower conclusion than “everyone is cancelling because prices rose”: some Netflix cancellers specifically cited a price increase, and others said the service cost too much or was not used enough to justify its cost. For households deciding whether to keep a subscription, the practical question is whether the programmes they want—and how often they watch—justify another recurring charge.
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The cited audience reports do not establish current provider prices, bundle conditions or plan terms. Those details vary and should be checked with each service rather than inferred from cancellation responses.
Are ad-supported streaming plans taking off?
Ad tiers are becoming a more common part of the UK subscription mix. In Ofcom’s 2025 survey, 49% of households reported having an ad tier, up from 22% in 2024; the reported share on premium tiers fell from 16% to 11%. These are survey-reported household figures, not a count of people who prefer advertising.
Barb’s Q1 2026 access data also shows the role of ads within particular services: 40% of Netflix homes and 37% of Disney+ homes were on their ad tiers. Amazon Prime Video’s 88% ad-tier measure is not directly comparable as a voluntary preference, because it reflects a different approach to moving homes to its ad tier.
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Are people going back to live TV?
Not in the sense of a general return to scheduled television. Traditional broadcaster weekly reach has continued to fall: Ofcom says the share of people watching traditional-broadcaster content for at least 15 minutes in an average week was 70% in 2025, compared with 73% in 2024 and 78% in 2022. At the same time, broadcaster content still made up the majority of video watched in UK homes, according to Ofcom’s 2026 overview.
Live viewing still matters particularly for shared events. Ofcom reported that 85% of sports viewing in 2025 was watched live. For England’s World Cup semi-final on 15 July 2026, the BBC reported a peak audience of 24 million across its platforms. Event audiences can be large without signalling that viewers have broadly switched back to linear schedules.
Is Netflix more popular than the BBC?
They were effectively neck-and-neck in Ofcom’s 2026 measure of first choice. When asked which TV and video service they usually turn to first when deciding what to watch, 26% named Netflix, 25% the BBC and 15% ITV. Ofcom says the one-percentage-point difference between Netflix and the BBC is not statistically significant, so it does not establish a clear winner.
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First choice is a survey response, not viewing share or total time spent watching. It also does not mean a household has only one service: people can use broadcaster platforms and subscriptions at different times.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why are broadcaster streaming services growing?
Broadcaster-owned on-demand services are gaining viewing even as traditional broadcaster weekly reach falls. Ofcom reported a 9% year-on-year rise in viewing of BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 Streaming and 5 streaming. That growth fits a more mixed pattern: viewers can watch broadcaster programmes on demand rather than only when they are scheduled.
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What is changing in how UK viewers watch?
The strongest explanation is rebalancing, not a single mass move between old and new television. SVOD access is widespread but broadly level; some people who cancel cite cost or low use; ad tiers have become more common; broadcaster on-demand viewing is growing; and live events can still draw major audiences. Those trends describe different measures and behaviours, not one universal viewer motive.
For an individual household choosing what to watch or pay for, the useful comparisons are recurring cost and advertising, the programmes available, whether the service offers live or on-demand viewing, and how well its content fits the household. UK rules are also evolving: the government announced implementation of the Media Act 2024 to bring designated video-on-demand services with more than 500,000 UK users under enhanced Ofcom regulation. Its February 2026 announcement set out an implementation and consultation process for future standards and accessibility codes, including proposed catalogue targets for subtitles, audio description and signing; it did not mean every requirement was already fully in force.
Sources: Ofcom, Media Nations 2026; Ofcom’s summary of 2026 findings; Barb, Q1 2026 SVOD access; Ofcom, Media Nations 2025 – UK Report; Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 24 February 2026.
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