A new streaming customer emerges: The subscription pauser

As subscription prices rise and streaming-centric home entertainment becomes the norm, families are establishing their own hierarchies of always-on services versus those that come and go with seasons of hit shows or sports. New data from subscription analytics provider Antenna offer a deeper look at the habits customers are developing as services like Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+ become the go-to way of watching TV in many households, instead of cable.

The monthly median percentage of premium streaming video subscribers who rejoined the same service they had canceled within the prior year was 34.2% in the first nine months of 2024, up from 29.8% in 2022.

The habit of pausing and resuming service means that the industrywide rate of customer defections, which has risen over the past year, is less pronounced than it appears. The average rate of U.S. customer cancellations among premium streaming video services reached 5.2% in August, but after factoring in re-subscribers, the rate of defections was lower at 3.5%

The increasingly ingrained habit underscores the importance of streamers regularly delivering hit shows and films as well as live fare such as sporting events. Streaming services are trying to use a mix of bundles, promotions, well-timed marketing emails and lower-cost ad-supported plans to lure customers back faster or help them feel they are getting enough value to stick around longer.

Robert Torrano, said Netflix is a stalwart streaming service in his household, along with Spotify for music streaming. “Those don’t get paused, ever, or I’d be exiled," the Fort Thomas, Ky., resident said.

But he said other services like Hulu and Amazon Prime Video tend not to hold enough value for his household to subscribe all year long. He recently subscribed to Disney+ because his 14-year-old daughter Lexi wanted to watch “Dancing with the Stars," but made a note in his calendar to cancel before the next billing cycle.

Rita Powell, who recently retired, pays for Netflix consistently, gets Amazon Prime Video as part of her Amazon Prime membership and has access to Peacock and Max through her cable and phone providers. She pauses Hulu between seasons of “Only Murders In the Building," and turns off Apple TV+ when she’s done watching shows like “Shrinking" and “Slow Horses." She plans to resume Apple’s service when the second season of “Severance" debuts early next year.

“I say ‘What value am I getting out of all those things?’" she said.

Some services like Hulu make pausing easy with a drop-down list of the number of weeks a customer would like to pause, allowing them to select a hiatus of up to three months; Netflix also allows members to pause for up to three months. Disney+ will soon offer a new feature that lets users pause their subscriptions, a person familiar with its plans said.

“A lot of customers won’t subscribe forever, but they will turn it on and off," said Antenna CEO Jonathan Carson.

Some 31% of U.S. Max customers have had two or more stints as a subscriber, a greater percentage than any other premium streaming service, while 29% of Apple TV+ customers in the U.S. have had two or more stints as subscribers since 2020. Netflix has the highest number and share of customers in the U.S. who have only subscribed to the service once since then, according to Antenna.

Boston resident Sean Gallagher was drawn to Hulu by “Only Murders in the Building." He watched the first season of the show and then paused his subscription, knowing he would be back for season 2.

Gallagher, who tends to pay for more streaming services in the winter when there is less to do outside, similarly canceled an Apple TV+ membership after watching the documentary “The Dynasty: New England Patriots," but suspects he will be back.

“I keep an eye on my streaming services because it’s death by a thousand paper cuts. I don’t want to get killed with monthlies," he said.

Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com