As the ‘Watch, cancel, go’ trend gains popularity, streaming platforms need to be smarter to retain customers LONDON: A study released in July by the US-based subscriber-measurement firm Antenna revealed that streaming video services are finding it increasingly difficult to retain their customer base as users are switching between platforms in order to save money, changing subscriptions depending on which service hosts the shows or movies they want to watch at the time. According to Antenna’s study, 19 percent of subscribers to premium services including Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV+, HBO Max and Disney+, canceled three or more subscriptions in the two years up to June 2022, up from 6 percent in the previous two years. The study also found that streaming services need to allocate huge amounts of resources and capital to produce new shows to keep subscribers satisfied. “You constantly need new content,” said Michael Nathanson, an analyst for “independent research boutique” MoffettNathanson. “Streaming services not only have to build vast libraries of old shows and movies, they also need a couple of nice big theatrical movies every quarter to make (consumers) feel like it’s really valuable.” When a highly anticipated show or movie is released, streaming-video providers see an increase in subscribers. However, many of these new consumers cancel their subscriptions after a short period of time. This “Watch, cancel and go” trend poses a problem even for the largest companies in the sector, with experts claiming that attracting new customers is five times more expensive than retaining loyal subscribers. “With new streaming services popping up every day and subscriber churn increasing, you must invest in subscriber retention and loyalty programs to survive and thrive,” said Alp Pekkocak, global head of industry solutions & strategy, media & entertainment at Salesforce. “It costs five times more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. Yet most companies spend the majority of their marketing budget trying to acquire new customers. “The old cliché ‘Content is king’ still holds true. No matter how good a personalized recommendation engine or user experience is, consumers won’t stick around if they don’t find content that speaks to them,” he added. Despite the increasing customer-defection rate, the appetite for streaming platforms remains high. Over the next few years, the number of subscribers is projected to grow with global revenue from TV series and movies expected to reach $224 billion in 2027, up from $135 billion in 2021, a report by Digital TV Research revealed. However, as market competition intensifies with more players entering an already-crowded sector, streaming services will be faced not only with the challenge of winning new subscribers’ hearts but will have to be smarter about how they retain and offer value to their existing customers.