Ads, AI and algorithms: How to win over today’s streamers

In this fragmented and fiercely competitive industry – valued at $674.25 billion in 2024 and set to grow to $2.67 trillion by 2032 – knowing what your viewers really think is more lucrative than ever.

That’s why we ran this research: to shed light on what today’s streamers are watching, how they’re discovering new shows, and what makes them stick around – or switch off. 

Whether you’re building a better viewing experience, experimenting with AI, or testing new ad models, these insights can help you move with your audience, not behind them.

Take a deeper look at the data over on our interactive dashboard, or keep scrolling to check out our research highlights.

Quick summary

Here’s our quick rundown of the key points from this research:

• Movies dominate: 83% of US and UK respondents say movies are their most-watched content on streaming platforms.
• AI divides viewers: 43% in both countries are comfortable with AI-generated content – but younger Americans (18–24) are the most skeptical, with 41% saying they’re uncomfortable.
• Price is king: 56% of Americans and 49.5% of Brits say a price increase would be the top reason for cancelling a subscription.
• Social media is the new TV guide for Gen Z: 70% of Brits and 68% of Americans aged 18–24 discover new shows via social.
• Ad control is a dealbreaker: 58% of Brits and 61% of Americans say they’d use ad-supported streaming if they could customize their ad experience.
• Skipping is a must: The top ad customisation feature globally? The ability to skip irrelevant ads – chosen by 52% in the US and 49% in the UK.

US streaming insights

Movies still get top billing

Our research shows that more than four in five Americans (83%) watch movies on streaming platforms. And the percentage of movie watchers is high across all age groups. The lowest – at 79% – is the 25–34 age group. 

Here’s the full list of genres and content types our US respondents watch on streaming platforms:

1. Movies – 83% 
2. TV series – 76%
3. Short-form content (e.g. YouTube, TikTok) – 42%
4. Documentaries – 41%
5. Live sports – 38%
6. Reality shows – 33%
7. News – 33%
8. Anime – 20%

Viewer sentiment towards AI 

We asked how comfortable people would be watching content that was partially or fully generated by AI (artificial intelligence). 

Overall 43% of Americans are comfortable with AI in streamed shows, while 32% are uncomfortable. It’s worth noting that a chunky 25% are neutral on this – showing that there’s potential for viewers to be won over (or not) by AI. 

Looking at the age breakdown, it’s somewhat surprising that the biggest age group saying they’re uncomfortable with AI is the youngest, who we might assume are most familiar with new tech like AI. Of those between 18–24, 41% are uncomfortable, with just 40% saying they’re comfortable.

Friend and family recommendations matter most

People still seek recommendations for what to watch from friends and family. Overall 55% said this, and we see this percentage staying relatively flat across all age groups. 

Recommendations from friends and family came top of the list overall, but there’s a clear shift when we look at under 35s. For that group, friend and family recs came second to social media as a place to discover new shows. Among those aged 18–24, 68% said they get their recommendations from social media, and 61% of people aged 25–34 said the same.

Meanwhile recommendations from within the streaming platforms themselves ranked high overall – 49% of Americans take note of what the platform recommends. And we see this jump to 56% for people aged 35–44.

Price is what makes streamers cancel

When we asked what would cause people to cancel their subscription to a streaming service, price increases came out top. A sizable 56% chose this, way above the second-placed option ‘too many ads’ (16% chose that). 

There’s an interesting gender shift when we look at the price increase responses. Nearly half of males (49%) say they’d cancel because of an increase, but this jumps to 62% for females. 

Generational differences re: ad-free tiers

Two in five Americans (39%) told us they’re okay with some ads in their streaming experience, as long as the price is lower. However we see that just 25% of people aged 18–24 said this, while 47.5% of people aged 55–64 said the same. 

The youngest group – those aged 18–24 – said they’d prefer ad-free content and are willing to pay for it. A sizable 29% said this, compared to the US average of 21%.

That youngest group would, however, be more open to ad-supported streaming tiers if they had more control over the type of ads they see. Compared to a national average of 61%, we found that 63% of people aged 18–24 would consider ad-supported tiers if they could influence things like topic and frequency of ads they see.

We then asked what types of ad customization people would like to see on ad-supported streaming platforms. Here are the overall results:

1. Skipping irrelevant ads after a few seconds – 52%
2. Setting a maximum number of ads per hour – 36%
3. Choosing when ads appear – 34%
4. Choosing ad categories I’m interested in – 32.5%
5. Personalized ads based on my preferences or viewing habits – 29%

UK streaming insights

Brits love movies

Of all genres of streaming content, it’s movies that Brits watch more than anything, with 83% saying this is what they primarily watch. Three quarters (75%) say they stream TV series, and almost half (49%) go for documentaries. 

It’s people aged between 25–34 who watch the biggest variety of content. For every type of streamed content we listed, this age group showed a higher percentage than the national average. Most notably, 52% of them watch reality shows (compared to the UK average of 34%) and 54% watch short-form content (compared to 38%). 

Meanwhile the youngest group – Brits between 18–24 – under-index for live sports and news, with just 12% saying they tune in to current affairs on streamers (compared to the UK average of 27%). 

BritAIn’s viewing proclivities

When asked how comfortable they are watching content either partially or fully generated using AI, 43% of Brits are comfortable, and 29% are uncomfortable. 

Breaking this down by age, we see comfort among people aged 25–34 jump up to 63%, and up to 51% for those aged 35–44. 

It’s worth noting that there’s still a significant percentage of people who told us they’re neutral about the use of AI in streaming. More than a quarter (27%) of Brits said they’re neutral, with this jumping up to 38% for people aged 55–64. While the jury on AI may be out for many of these people, it’s worth bearing them in mind as being potentially open-minded, but just as potentially sceptical towards AI in their favorite shows.

Brits listen to friends and family for streaming recs

More than three fifths of respondents (61%) told us they discover new shows or movies through recommendations from friends and family. Meanwhile just over half (51%) are swayed by in-platform recommendations from streamers.

Notably, our youngest respondents turn to social media for their streaming tips. Of Brits aged 18–24, 70% said this is where they get their recommendations. And 65% of people aged 25–34 said the same. 

Also notable is that people aged 18–24 are significantly less likely to get their recommendations from online reviews or media outlets. Just over a quarter (25%) of this group chose that, compared to the UK average of 36%. 

Price is (still) most important

Almost half of Brits (49.5%) from our survey said that price increases are what would make them most likely to cancel a streaming service subscription. 

Interestingly, people aged 25–34 are significantly less likely to cancel for this reason – only 32% chose price increases as a reason, while almost every other age group’s percentage for that option was above 50%.

What would make 25–34s cancel is too many ads, and poor user experience. Compared to the UK average of 16%, too many ads would make 23% of 25–34s cancel. And 17% would cancel because of poor user experience, compared to 12% for the rest of the country. 

Customizable ad-supported tiers are a winner

Nearly three fifths of Brits (58%) said they’d be likely to use an ad-supported version of a streaming service if they could customize the experience. This percentage jumps to 69% for people aged 25–34. 

And overall, people would like to be able to skip irrelevant ads, according to our research. The list of ad customization options and the percentages of Brits who’d like to see them were:

1. Skipping irrelevant ads after a few seconds – 49%
2. Setting a maximum number of ads per hour – 36.5%
3. Choosing when ads appear – 35%
4. Choosing ad categories I’m interested in – 27%
5. Personalized ads based on my preferences or viewing habits – 25%

Don’t forget, you can take a deeper look at the data over on our interactive dashboard.