The average American consumer has 3.6 streaming subscriptions.

But how much content can one household watch? Especially as Netflix and others begin to crack down on password sharing even among geographically dispersed families…

Our three kids live in 3 different states, and enjoy our streaming services. But increasingly, it is getting difficult for them to access our subscriptions. I’m sure we aren’t alone.

Meanwhile, the content provided by most of the major streamers isn’t optimized for a specific audience— Apple, Max, Hulu, and the others have a little of everything—prestige content, reality shows, old favorites, and kiddie shows.

And this is important—because they are no longer fully delivering on a clear forever promise of “everything you want to watch” or “the best place for the content you love most”. So as a result, we are seeing a big change in consumer behavior.

Serial Monogamy

Consumers are strategically signing up with a site, binging that content, and cancelling, before moving onto the next one.

This is not what subscriptions are designed for, and is a demonstration of declining product market fit (PMF).

The economic chaos we are experiencing right now is making consumers even more cautious about tracking expenses (even those “set it and forget it” subscriptions).

🔎 What Does This Mean?

For Streamers:

Many have tried to offer new pricing and packaging options—great for PMF, but lousy for making it easy for buyers to select the right option for them.

It also means having a “pause” feature is becoming a must-have.

For Consumers:

Pay attention to your subscriptions. Check your credit card statement, as well as your Apple or Android account, regularly.

Make sure you’re not paying for what you’re not using.

And maybe consider the “Free trial” option for new services, for when you have a little free time for binging.

And don’t forget to mark the “cancel by” date in your calendar.