Six in ten UK subscription-video users are open to switching services by canceling and returning, according to new MTM research. For streaming businesses, that raises a different retention question: whether a departing customer will come back, and at what cost.
The consultancy’s October 2026 ScreenThink findings, based on research among 3,000 UK online adults, distinguish existing behavior from willingness to try it.
Among subscription-video users, 18% said they cycled services every month and 21% did so less regularly. A further 21% had not done it but would consider it. The 60% total therefore does not mean six in ten cancel a service every month.
Users reported access to an average of 2.9 paid services. That gives providers a competitive problem beyond persuading households to adopt streaming: winning a place in a budget that customers can redistribute.
What subscription cycling means
Subscription cycling involves leaving a service and later returning, potentially using a competing service in between. A viewer might subscribe for a particular series, cancel after watching it and rejoin when another release becomes available.
That example illustrates the practice; it is not a viewing history measured by the survey. Nor does cycling necessarily mean a customer dislikes a service. It can reflect how much content they want at a particular time and what they are prepared to pay for continued access.
The survey records people’s reported behavior and intentions. It does not provide a verified transaction history or establish that all countries, age groups or subscription businesses follow the same pattern.
Cancellation does not settle the customer relationship
Churn is the proportion of subscribers leaving during a defined period. It remains useful, but a cancellation count alone cannot distinguish a permanent departure from an occasional customer’s planned break.
Two services could lose similar numbers of subscribers in a month yet have different economics. One might bring former customers back at its ordinary price. Another might regain them only through repeated discounts and expensive advertising.
The distinction appears only when a business follows customer groups over time. Relevant measures include the share returning, the interval before their return, the price they pay and their subsequent paid months.
These measures also prevent an overly generous assumption about customer value. Someone buying access for several months a year should not automatically be counted as a full-year subscriber when estimating future revenue.
Easy exits may support future sales
Separate research discussed by Mastercard in April found that 70% of respondents said easy cancellation would make them more likely to resubscribe. Another 34% said they would remain subscribed if they could pause instead.
Those are stated preferences, rather than measured increases in retention. Mastercard also sells subscription-management services, giving it a commercial interest in the subject.
Nevertheless, the findings raise a useful product-design question. A pause option may suit someone taking a short break, while clear account records can make returning simpler. Making cancellation difficult risks turning a temporary departure into a complaint.
The US Federal Trade Commission’s consumer guidance on recurring subscriptions warns about unclear renewal terms and problems canceling. It advises customers to check costs and monitor charges after cancellation.
A returning subscriber is valuable only on workable terms
Offering a discount can generate another sale, but it reduces revenue per paid month. If customers learn that canceling reliably produces a cheaper offer, some who would have stayed at full price may begin leaving to obtain it.
That is a possible commercial response, not an effect established by MTM’s survey. A provider needs its own evidence to determine whether an offer produces additional profitable purchases or simply discounts purchases it would have received anyway.
MBN’s coverage of turning free users into paying customers examines a related challenge: access and engagement do not automatically translate into paid demand.
For a cycling audience, the useful comparison is the revenue earned across the relationship after acquisition and reactivation costs. A larger number of returning accounts can look encouraging while producing less value if each return depends on another subsidy.
