By Stuart Thomson

OTT subscriber churn in the US hit 44 per cent in Q1 of last year, according to data compiled by Parks Associates, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu managing to retain customers at a much higher rate than other leading streaming services.

According to Parks Associates, Netflix is the clear market leader in average subscription length, managing to retain customers on average for 44 months, with Amazon Prime Video and Hulu also managing to retain customers for substantial periods.

However, the other major streamers in the market fared less well.

Paramount+ came in at number four in terms of average subscription length, followed by Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Peacock’s Premium and Premium Plus offerings, and discovery+ in that order, with average subscription lengths of around 10 months or less.

Parks found that about a quarter of streaming subscribers were ‘hoppers’ who switch services frequently and have more than the average number of subscriptions but cancel regularly.

Parks also found that OTT churn rates had surpassed those of vMVPD services in Q1 2021, with the latter experiencing average churn rates of 39 per cent, down from 73 per cent a year earlier.

Among retention tools deployed by OTT service providers that resonate with subscribers, Parks found that the ability to pause a subscription was referenced by 21 per cent of users, while the availability of a lower price tier was also referenced by