Pay TV remains a large but changing part of the television market. The statistics below distinguish traditional pay-TV services from SVoD, identify the relevant population and geography, and separate observed results from estimates and survey responses.
Key Pay TV Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- 38% of UK households had a pay-TV service in Q3 2024, down from 40% in Q3 2023.
- 76% of UK pay-TV customers bought pay TV in a bundle at the end of Q2 2024.
- 51% of UK pay-TV customers bought a triple-play bundle with landline and fixed broadband at the end of Q2 2024.
- Charter had 12.7 million residential video customers on June 30, 2024 in its United States footprint.
- EchoStar reported 7.778 million U.S. pay-TV subscribers on December 31, 2024.
- 68% of UK households received at least one SVoD service in Q1 2024.
- Netflix reached 58% of UK households in Q1 2024, an estimated 16.7 million households.
- UK households with at least one SVoD service averaged just over two subscriptions in Q1 2024.
- The estimated real monthly list price of bundled UK pay TV was £26.47 in September 2024.
- The estimated promotional pay-TV component for new UK triple-play customers was £15.80 per month in September 2024.
- 32% of UK triple-play customers were out of contract at the end of June 2024.
- Out-of-contract UK triple-play customers paid bills 16% higher than in-contract customers at the end of June 2024.
- UK people watched 4 hours 30 minutes of television and video content at home per day in 2024.
- Broadcast TV represented 56% of UK in-home viewing in 2024.
- Netflix averaged 22 minutes per UK viewer aged 4+ per day in 2024.
- Peacock had 36 million paid subscribers in 2024, after adding 5 million.
- Charter’s Q2 2024 video revenue was $3.867 billion, down 7.7% year over year.
- Almost £12 billion of UK consumer spending in 2024 went to pay TV, SVoD, digital video retail and cinema box office combined.
- 24% of UK Netflix unsubscribers said they did not use it enough to justify the cost in Ofcom’s 2025 survey reporting.
Contents
- Pay TV household reach and subscriber scale
- Pay TV trends and competing video services
- Pay TV prices, bundles and contract status
- Pay TV viewing and audience behavior
- Pay TV company subscribers, revenue and operating results
- Pay TV affordability, cancellations and consumer outcomes
Pay TV Household Reach and Subscriber Statistics
UK household reach has declined, while operator-reported subscriber bases show the continuing scale of pay-TV businesses in the United States. These measures are not interchangeable: household penetration describes homes, whereas company figures describe customer relationships under each operator’s definition.
| Measure | Result | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| UK households with pay TV | 38% | Q3 2024; 40% in Q3 2023 |
| UK pay-TV customers buying a bundle | 76% | End of Q2 2024 |
| UK pay-TV customers buying triple play | 51% | End of Q2 2024 |
| UK TV households | 27.7 million | Estimated end of 2024 |
Ofcom’s Pricing trends for communications services in the UK 2024 reports the UK penetration and bundling measures. The 38% figure comes from the Barb Establishment Survey and excludes NOW because Ofcom classifies NOW as SVoD.
In the United States, Charter reported 12.7 million residential video customers on June 30, 2024. It lost 393,000 residential video customers in Q2 2024, compared with a loss of 189,000 in Q2 2023; these are company-reported quarter-over-quarter changes in Charter’s footprint.
EchoStar reported 7.778 million U.S. pay-TV subscribers on December 31, 2024. Its company-reported total comprised 5.686 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.092 million SLING TV subscribers, rather than a national household estimate.
These U.S. figures come from Charter Announces Second Quarter 2024 Results and EchoStar’s 2024 Form 10-K. Company subscriber totals cover different footprints and definitions and should not be summed into a global total.
Pay TV Trends and Competing Video Services
SVoD provides an important comparison for traditional pay TV, but it is measured differently. UK SVoD household figures include paid subscriptions and free trials where stated, and changes in questionnaires affected the capture of passive bundled subscriptions.
- In Q1 2024, 68% of UK households received at least one SVoD service, according to the Barb Establishment Survey.
- Netflix reached 58% of UK households, equivalent to an estimated 16.7 million UK households, in Q1 2024.
- About 2.1 million of Netflix’s estimated 16.7 million UK households used its advertising-supported tier in Q1 2024; this is a Barb-based estimate and may differ from billing records.
- The share of UK households with an “any other” SVoD service rose from nearly 11% in Q4 2023 to 16% in Q1 2024.
- Discovery+ household penetration rose from 4% in Q4 2023 to 11% in Q1 2024, reaching an estimated 1.9 million UK households.
- Paramount+ household penetration increased from 6% to 9% between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, representing an estimated 996,000 additional UK households.
- UK households taking at least one SVoD service averaged just over two subscriptions per subscribing household in Q1 2024.
The questionnaire changes partly explain the Discovery+ and “any other” increases, so these movements should not be read as pure underlying subscriber growth. The detailed measures are in Ofcom’s Media Nations: UK 2024.
Ofcom reported that 68% of UK households had an SVoD service in Q1 2025, the same level reported for 2021. Nearly half of total UK SVoD viewing in 2024 went to Netflix, which is a viewing share rather than a subscriber share; both findings appear in Further findings from our latest look at the UK’s media habits.
Pay TV Prices, Bundles and Contract Status
UK pay-TV pricing is often embedded in broadband and landline packages. Ofcom estimates the pay-TV component by subtracting comparable dual-play tariffs from triple-play tariffs and adjusting for inflation, so these figures are indicative rather than standalone bills.
| UK pricing or contract measure | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Real monthly list-price pay-TV component in triple play | £26.47 | September 2024 |
| Year-on-year change in that list-price component | +£5.52; +26% | Year to September 2024 |
| Promotional pay-TV component for new triple-play customers | £15.80/month | September 2024 |
| Year-on-year change in promotional component | +£9.30; +143% | Year to September 2024 |
| Triple-play customers out of contract | 32% | End of June 2024 |
| Out-of-contract bill premium | 16% | End of June 2024 |
The list-price and promotional estimates are from Pricing trends for communications services in the UK 2024. Average Sky Sports add-on prices fell 1% in real terms in the year to September 2024, while average TNT Sports add-on prices fell 3%.
The share of UK triple-play customers out of contract rose from 25% in June 2023 to 32% in June 2024. Ofcom’s comparison found that out-of-contract customers paid bills 16% higher than in-contract customers at the end of June 2024; being out of contract does not itself indicate cancellation intent.
The price gap between standard and promotional UK broadband, landline and pay-TV bundles narrowed from £19 to £17 per month between September 2023 and September 2024. Average triple-play and dual-play bundle spending each increased 8% in real terms year over year in 2024, while promotional ultrafast triple-play prices fell 3% during the year.
Over the five years to 2024, average promotional prices fell 25% for UK triple-play superfast deals and 48% for ultrafast deals. These bundle measures include broadband and landline, so they are not pay-TV-only prices; Ofcom discusses them in Ultrafast broadband and landline bundles see biggest price drop in 2024.
Pay TV Viewing and Audience Behavior
Viewing data helps separate the amount of video people consume from the service they use to access it. Broadcast TV, SVoD, YouTube and pay TV are different categories, so none of the following figures should be treated as a direct pay-TV market share.
- UK people watched an average of 4 hours 30 minutes of TV and video content at home per day in 2024.
- Broadcast TV accounted for 56% of UK in-home viewing in 2024.
- UK viewers spent 39 minutes per day on YouTube at home in 2024, including 16 minutes watched through the household TV set.
- Netflix averaged 22 minutes per viewer aged 4+ per day in the UK in 2024.
- In Ofcom’s latest research reported in 2025, 27% of UK children aged 4–15 chose SVoD as their first TV destination after switching on.
- In the same child survey, 26% chose a linear channel first and 20% chose a video-sharing service first, mainly YouTube.
- Among UK adults aged 16–34, 30% selected an SVoD service first and 30% selected a linear channel first.
The first-destination figures measure what respondents chose first, not total viewing time. The population definitions and viewing measures are summarized by Ofcom in Further findings from our latest look at the UK’s media habits.
Pay TV Company Subscribers, Revenue and Operating Results
Company results show how traditional video operators are managing subscriber pressure and programming costs, while streaming services provide a related competitive benchmark. The figures below are company-reported and should not be interpreted as directly comparable market totals.
Charter reported Q2 2024 video revenue of $3.867 billion, down 7.7% from Q2 2023. Its programming costs decreased $268 million, or 9.8%, year over year, while residential revenue per residential customer was $120.77 per month, up 0.4% year over year.
The $120.77 figure covers all residential services rather than pay-TV-only average revenue per user. Charter’s subscriber, revenue and cost results are reported in Charter Announces Second Quarter 2024 Results.
Comcast reported Peacock revenue of $4.9 billion and costs and expenses of $6.7 billion in 2024. Peacock paid subscribers increased by 5 million to 36 million during 2024, and Peacock represented 2.1% of all U.S. TV viewing time in August 2024 according to the Nielsen Gauge report cited by Comcast.
Peacock is a streaming service and is included here as a pay-TV-adjacent competitor, not as traditional linear pay TV. The company-reported figures are in Comcast’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Pay TV Affordability, Cancellations and Consumer Outcomes
Spending and cancellation surveys show how households balance video value against price and usage. Combined spending figures do not isolate traditional pay TV, and survey percentages describe the stated population or subgroup only.
Almost £12 billion of UK consumer spending went to pay TV, SVoD, digital video retail and cinema box office combined in 2024. Total UK consumer spending across TV, digital video and cinema, recorded music and videogame software reached almost £19 billion in the same year.
Ofcom also reported that 14% of UK households said they downgraded their Netflix subscription in the past year. In the three months before the relevant survey, 6% of surveyed UK viewers reported unsubscribing from Amazon Prime, while 4% reported unsubscribing from Netflix and 4% from Disney+.
Among UK Netflix unsubscribers, 24% said they did not use Netflix enough to justify the cost, 23% cited an increased subscription price, and 22% said Netflix was too expensive. Among Amazon Prime unsubscribers, 35% said they did not use it enough to justify the expense and 35% said it was too expensive.
These cancellation and downgrade results are self-reported survey measures, and Amazon Prime includes broader membership benefits beyond video. Ofcom presents the spending, subscription and consumer-outcome findings in Further findings from our latest look at the UK’s media habits.