Brits are forking out more than £4.8 billion a year – £439 million every month – to avoid watching or listening to adverts on 5 of the UK’s most popular streaming platforms, according to new research by the finance comparison site Finder.
The research reveals that almost 3 in 5 (58%) UK adults – 31.2 million people – are paying for an ad-free version of at least one streaming service. Of these, Netflix is the most popular, with around 2 in 5 Brits (39%) paying a premium price for no adverts.
Overall, the UK spends an estimated £3 million a month for each minute of ads they avoid on the 4 most popular streamers – Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Spotify.
If someone were to avoid adverts on all of these platforms, they would be paying £312 per year, or £26 per month.
While some of the streaming platforms include additional benefits with the more expensive subscriptions, skipping adverts is the major selling point for all of them.
Brits spend an estimated £1 million a month per minute of ads avoided on Netflix
Netflix charges an extra £7 a month for their ad-free plan. Around 21 million Brits (39%) are subscribed, meaning the country spends an estimated £150 million each month on this service. Based on the average watch time, the UK spends around £1 million per minute of ads skipped on Netflix.
Amazon Prime’s ad-free upgrade costs £2.99 per month, with approximately 13.5 million subscribers opting in for a total monthly spend of £40.5 million. With the average watch time, UK subscribers are paying over £640,000 for each minute of ads they’ve avoided.
Meanwhile, Disney+ users are spending around £44.8 million per month, with an estimated 11.2 million Brits spending £4 extra each for ad-free. This works out at £470,000 in total for each minute of ads they miss.
Spotify Premium costs £11.99 per month, whereas the basic version is free. With an estimated 10.6 million UK subscribers, Brits are spending £127.7 million monthly to skip ads interrupting their music streaming. With the average listening time, this works out at an impressive £1.1 million collectively per minute of ads avoided.
However, ad-tier streaming use is on the rise
While an uninterrupted service is important to a lot of Brits, more people are embracing ad-supported tiers to try and cut costs. The number of households on Netflix’s ad-tier increased by 24% between September and December 2024, rising from 3.8 million to 4.7 million.
The number of households on the Disney+ ad-supported tier has increased at a similar pace, up 25% from 1.5 million to 1.2 million between September and December 2024.
Louise Bastock, personal finance expert at Finder, commented: “We all love a bit of binge-watching without interruption, but the UK spending over £400 million a month to skip ads is pretty wild! Streaming subscriptions can really add up, especially when you’re paying extra for the premium versions across multiple platforms.
“If you’re looking to save a bit, it’s worth taking five minutes to review what you’re actually using. Could you drop down to the ad-supported version for the services you only dip into now and then? Or even swap between streaming services every few months? Budgeting apps like Emma can also help flag where you’re duplicating or overspending on your subscription services.
“Keep an eye out for instances where you can get your TV streaming subscription as part of another service or product, for example you can get 12 months Disney+ with a Club Lloyd’s current account (account fees may apply). Free trials, student discounts or shared family plans can make a big difference, too. A quick subscription spring clean could leave you with more money in your pocket and maybe a few less hours lost to TV!”
