For many, streaming was supposed to be the cleaner, simpler alternative to cable, yet it has slowly become a new version of the same old trade-off: pay more or sit through more ads. A new All About Cookies survey suggests viewers are reaching the limit of what they will tolerate.
The company surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults in March 2026 who subscribe to seven major platforms: HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Netflix, Peacock, Prime Video, and Disney+. The research found that the average consumer now subscribes to 3.4 streaming services at $48 per month, while nearly every major platform has embraced some kind of ad-supported model.
But the biggest headline from the study is that streaming ads are being seen, but not really watched. Just 24% of respondents said they actually pay attention when ads come on. The rest are doing something else, which says plenty about how much value those commercials are really delivering to streaming platforms. When ads start playing, 74% of viewers grab their phone and start scrolling, checking email, or going to social media. Another 38% leave the room, while 32% simply mute the ad and wait it out. Instead of engaging with the ad break, many viewers are just surviving it until the content resumes.
Ad-supported plans are now the default for most streamers
One of the more telling findings in the report is how normal ad-supported streaming has become.
- Netflix is the only major streaming service where a majority of subscribers pay for ad-free viewing. About 52% of Netflix users choose the ad-free tier, while 46% of HBO Max subscribers and 40% of Disney+ subscribers do the same.
- Most other major platforms are heavily ad-supported. For Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, and Paramount+, at least three-quarters of subscribers are on ad-supported plans.
- Viewers are not happy with the ad load. More than three-quarters of respondents, 76%, said major streaming platforms have too many ads. Hulu drew the strongest complaints at 71%, followed by Peacock at 68%.
- The “fewer interruptions” argument is winning. With the same total ad time, 67% preferred one long ad upfront, while only 12% wanted multiple shorter breaks spread through the program
Those key takeaways line up with broader industry trends. Last year, a report noted that 75% of streaming subscribers have tried an ad-supported plan, and that 46% of subscriptions across major services were ad-supported. The report also showed that ad-supported streaming has become a major part of the business model, not some temporary experiment.
The ad load may be becoming a bigger problem
Nearly a year later, All About Cookies research shows that those streaming ads are not exactly winning over viewers. 52% of respondents said they have considered canceling a streaming service because of the ads. Ads may be helping the business model, but they are also creating churn risk. This comes at a time when streamers are pushing harder into ads while also making ad-free plans more expensive.
Amazon Prime Video reportedly doubled the number of ads per hour, moving from a promised hourly two to three-and-a-half minutes to four to six minutes. That increase came less than 18 months after ads were introduced, and it has already sparked questions about how much ad pressure viewers will accept before they start backing away.
Earlier this month, the company rebranded its ad-free add-on into Prime Video Ultra, raising the price from $2.99 to $4.99 per month. The change added premium features like Dolby Atmos, more downloads, five concurrent streams, and removed 4K UHD from the standard plan to its latest paywall. In what some have called “platform decay,” these types of increases, where ads get heavier, features are removed, and ad-free gets pricier, have led to frustration in the market.
The pricing shift and ad pressure are occurring as more cord cutters are looking for cheaper ways to stream. Viewers are cutting back on how many streaming services they keep, with a recent Cord Cutters News survey finding that 53.3% of cord cutters now pay for three streaming services or fewer, while 70.1% pay for four or fewer. When budgets tighten, ad-free upgrades become an easier thing to skip.
Free and low-cost streaming still has a strong audience
Even with all the complaints about ads, viewers have not abandoned ad-supported streaming entirely. Viewers are becoming more selective about where they watch.
Earlier this month, in a separate Cord Cutters News reader survey, The Roku Channel was voted the best free ad-supported streaming service with 30.9% of the vote. It ranked ahead of Pluto TV (24.2%) and Tubi (23.8%), showing that viewers still value free, ad-supported options when the content and experience feel worthwhile.
At the same time, some services are moving in the opposite direction. Crunchyroll shut down its free ad-supported tier at the end of last year, ending one more path for viewers who want to watch without paying. Over the years, many other services have shut down their free tiers, including Peacock, as the broader streaming industry continues to retreat from the kind of free entry points that once helped bring in casual users.
The bottom line
Taken together, All About Cookies’ study highlights that ads are now everywhere, but most viewers are not really watching them, do not like how many there are, and are willing to consider canceling because of them. The industry has spent years trying to make ad-supported streaming feel like a smart bargain.
Even with the increase in ads, cord cutters in general do not regret ditching cable and are still saving money. What this survey suggests is that many viewers still see ads as a compromise they tolerate, not a feature they embrace. The more platforms push ad loads higher and premium ad-free tiers more expensive, the more viewers seem ready to mute, multitask, or walk away entirely.
Credit: All About Cookies