Too Many Streaming Services? Brits Are Saying ‘Enough’

Does this sound familiar? You’re paying for Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+, and maybe Sky or NOW. Your monthly streaming bills have quietly crept past £50, yet somehow the film you actually want to watch is on Apple TV+ – another tenner a month you don’t fancy spending.

And just to make things even more complicated, HBO Max is launching in the UK early next year, promising yet another must-have service to add to the pile.

And we haven’t even mentioned sports.

So what do you do when you can’t afford to subscribe to everything? If you’re like a growing number of Brits, you might just find it somewhere else entirely.

A couple of months ago, the UK government released its latest Online Copyright Infringement Tracker, covering how we consumed entertainment throughout 2024 (hat tip to TorrentFreak blog for spotting the report’s release).

The report is part of a long-running study that the Intellectual Property Office has been conducting since 2012, surveying 5,000 people aged 12 and above about their digital habits. It’s designed to track how Brits access everything from music and films to live sports and software, both legally and illegally.

While the headline suggests some good news for streaming companies – overall piracy rates dropped slightly from 32% in 2022 to 29% in 2024 – dig beneath the surface and you’ll find a troubling story about what happens when there are simply “too many” services competing for our wallets.

When Choice Becomes a Burden

Remember when we thought we’d escaped the tyranny of expensive satellite/cable packages? Netflix was going to save us all with one simple subscription that gave us access to most of what we wanted to watch. Those days feel like a distant memory now.

Today’s reality is far messier. Want to watch the Premier League? That’s Sky Sports and TNT Sports. Fancy some Marvel films? Disney+ has most of them, but some are on other platforms. Want to watch the new Outlander spin-off? It’s on MGM+. And that list goes on and on.

This fragmentation is showing up in some stark numbers. According to the government’s report, movie piracy has climbed from 24% in 2022 to 27% in 2024 – returning to the highest levels recorded since 2019.

Even more telling, live sports piracy has hit a record high of 38%, the worst figure since tracking began.

But here’s the kicker – this isn’t happening because people suddenly decided they hate paying for content. The government’s research included detailed conversations with people who regularly use illegal sources, and many of them already pay for multiple legitimate services.

They’ve just reached their personal breaking point with endless new subscriptions.

The data shows this clearly: the number of people paying for legal sports streaming services actually decreased by eight percentage points, while subscriptions to illegal IPTV services increased by four percentage points.

People aren’t just complaining about the streaming overload – they’re actively cancelling legitimate services because there are simply too many to keep track of.

The Subscription Fatigue Generation

We’ve all heard about young people being comfortable with piracy, but what’s happening now goes beyond the usual generational divide. It’s more about subscription fatigue than age.

Think about it from a 25-year-old’s perspective: they’ve grown up expecting convenience and simplicity from technology. When streaming first arrived, it delivered exactly that.

But now they’re faced with content scattered across half a dozen platforms, each demanding £10-15 per month, often with exclusive content that tempts you to subscribe to services you’d otherwise ignore.

The research confirms that younger viewers are more likely to turn to illegal sources, with infringement levels consistently higher among under-35s.

But the total numbers tell a broader story: music and film each have an estimated eight million infringers in the UK. That’s far too many people to explain away as just young troublemakers.

What seems to be happening is that younger viewers are leading a broader “rebellion” against subscription overload.

They’re the first to say “enough is enough” when faced with yet another streaming service demanding money for content that used to be available elsewhere. But increasingly, older viewers who remember simpler times are reaching the same conclusion (or just settling for Freeview).

The Breaking Point Mentality

Perhaps the most revealing part of the government’s research came from actually talking to people who regularly use illegal sources alongside their legitimate subscriptions. 

Many described hitting a wall where the streaming industry’s approach felt exploitative. They’d happily pay for one, two, maybe three services.

But when every network decided to hoard its content on its own platform, these viewers essentially went on strike. Some told researchers they “refused ‘out of principle’ to pay above a certain amount for entertainment.”

The numbers back this up. For films, 17% of respondents used both legal and illegal sources, while only 4% used exclusively illegal sources for streaming. 

What we’re seeing is a shift from “I should pay for everything legally” to “I’m already paying my fair share, and if that doesn’t cover everything I want to watch, that’s the industry’s problem, not mine.”

The Security Trade-Off Many Are Willing to Make

Of course, this approach comes with genuine risks that many people either don’t understand or choose to ignore. Using dodgy streaming sites and downloading content from questionable sources can expose you to serious security threats.

The government’s research found something quite concerning: across every content category, people using illegal sources were notably more likely to have experienced cybersecurity incidents compared to those sticking to legal options.

We’re talking about everything from malware infections to identity theft and banking fraud.

Interestingly, when researchers showed people different campaigns designed to discourage piracy, the most effective ones weren’t about supporting artists or respecting copyright.

Instead, campaigns highlighting personal security risks – showing hackers stealing bank details and personal information – were the most persuasive, which is why we’re seeing campaigns like BeStreamWise.

But even knowing these risks doesn’t seem to deter everyone. Some focus group participants admitted they’d simply “install better anti-virus software in order to not lose the benefit of consuming content for free.”

Have We Reached Peak Streaming Service?

What’s perhaps most telling about this data is how normal it’s become to mix legal and illegal sources, especially among younger viewers.

The research suggests that for many people, this isn’t seen as morally wrong – it’s just a practical response to an industry that’s made legal consumption unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

This feels different from previous waves of piracy. In the early 2000s, people downloaded music because there genuinely wasn’t a convenient legal alternative.

Now there are plenty of legal options – they’re just scattered across so many different platforms that accessing everything legally feels like a full-time job with a hefty salary requirement.

The industry faces a genuine dilemma. They can invest more in anti-piracy measures, but that risks alienating customers who are already feeling overwhelmed by subscription costs.

Or they can continue with the current model of platform proliferation and hope people eventually accept the new reality.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that, however frustrated people might feel about subscription costs, piracy is still illegal – and it does genuine harm to the people who actually make the films and TV shows we love watching.

Writers, actors, directors, and countless behind-the-scenes workers depend on legitimate revenue to make a living. When we bypass legal channels because we don’t fancy paying for yet another streaming service, we’re essentially saying we’re entitled to their work for free.

It’s a bit like walking into a shop, deciding the prices are too high, and just taking what we want anyway. The frustration with the current streaming mess is understandable, but it doesn’t make the alternative right.

The golden age of simple, affordable streaming may be over, but it’s not clear what’s replacing it is actually better for anyone except the companies collecting multiple subscription fees.

And if the government’s data is anything to go by, a lot of people are starting to vote with their feet – or rather, with their browsers.

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