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Survey: Most consumers only willing to pay $20 per month for streaming TV, would prefer ads instead

Following the launch of Apple TV+ in November, more streaming services are coming in 2020. A new survey from The Trade Desk, cited by CNBC, says that the majority of consumers in the United States aren’t willing to pay more than $20 per month total on streaming services.

According to the survey of over 2,600 people, 59% of Americans won’t pay more than $20 per month for all of their streaming TV needs, while 75% said they won’t exceed $30. With Netflix being the clear market leader and charging $13 per month, that doesn’t leave a lot left over for consumers to spend on other services every month.

The survey also found that 53% of consumers would be more willing to watch an ad “on every other episode of a show” if it meant cheaper monthly subscription rates. 68% of people surveyed said they would be “willing to watch ads relevant to their interests in order to watch fewer ads overall.”

NBC’s upcoming “Peacock” streaming service is expected to offer a completely free, advertising-supported tier, a limited-advertising version for $5, and an ad-free version for $10 per month. This is seemingly NBC’s attempt at securing both sides of the market: Those who don’t want to pay for another streaming service, and those who would rather pay than watch ads.

Of course, the counterargument to this survey is that you don’t have to subscribe to multiple streaming services at the same time. Instead, you can subscribe to Netflix while you watch content there for a few months, then switch to Hulu and Apple TV+ for a few months, and so on.

Apple TV+ debuted in November and costs $5 per month — but you can get a year for free when you buy any iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. At $5 per month, Apple TV+ is one of the more affordable streaming services, but it also has a smaller content library and no back catalog of non-original content.

What do you think of this survey? How much are you willing to spend per month on streaming services? Let us know down in the comments.

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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