For most Premium SVOD services that offer them, ad-supported plans now account for the majority of new subscriptions. Ad-supported Premium SVOD Subscriptions in the U.S. reached 110M by the end of Q1'26, according to Antenna estimates. That's up from nearly 100M a year earlier, and from just 53M two years prior. The ad-supported tier, once positioned as a secondary option, has become the primary way consumers enter streaming services.
Antenna estimates Disney+ was the fastest-growing service, adding 5.4M ad-supported Subscriptions and increasing its share by +4pts YoY to 17% of ad-supported Subscriptions. HBO Max followed closely, adding 4.9M ad-supported Subscriptions YoY, and also increasing its share by +4pts to 12%. Hulu had the largest share of Premium SVOD ad-supported Subscriptions in Q1’26 at 23%, but still reflects a YoY decline -3pts.
Antenna estimates that Disney+ and Hulu each saw 70% of Gross Adds come through ad-supported tiers in Q1'26. HBO Max showed the strongest YoY growth, with its Share of Gross Adds up +7pts to 55%. Netflix followed with a +5pts gain to 54%.
The data in this post is a preview of Antenna’s forthcoming State of Subscriptions, which focuses on the ad-supported subscription streaming market. If you want to receive your own copy as soon as it’s released, be sure to join our mailing list.
For more detailed information on Antenna’s methodology and definitions of core metrics, please visit http://www.antenna.live/methodology.
