BRISTOL, UK, 18/02/26: New Digital i analysis of light-viewer behaviour across Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and HBO Max in the U.S. and Europe shows that "low-friction" content, including known franchises, family and animated titles, and major movie releases, serve as vital "subscription stabilisers" for infrequent viewers at high risk of churn.
Light viewers – those who use streaming services infrequently and with low intent – are the most at-risk segment for churn. Digital i defines them as the bottom third of measured accounts as ranked by total viewing time (an average of 48 mins per day or less on Netflix; 18 mins per day or less on HBO Max; 12 mins per day or less on Prime Video; 11 mins per day or less on Disney+, during the measured period).
Digital i ranked titles viewed on these four streaming services* in the U.S., UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden during 2025 by the highest percentage of light viewers among the total reach. The results revealed a consistent pattern: known franchises, movies and other low-friction entertainment disproportionately serve this audience across platforms.
Movie magic
On Disney+, titles such as Hocus Pocus 2 (35.5% of the 3.0m accounts that viewed this film in 2025 were light viewers), Hamilton (33.4% of its 3.1m viewers) and Marvel superhero movie Deadpool & Wolverine (32.0% of its 3.1m total reach) ranked among the strongest performers with light viewers last year. This was despite not delivering the platform’s highest overall reach, demonstrating how blockbuster IP can act as a churn safety net.
A similar trend was evident on Prime Video, where the films Wicked: Part I (24.2% of 6.4m), Conclave (21.2% of 9.5m) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (20.1% of 7.3m), and the light-entertainment show Last One Laughing UK (20.8% of 5.5m), all ranked highly among light viewers, suggesting a stabilising role in subscriber retention.
While bundling Prime Video with its Amazon Prime retail service provides unique churn reduction benefits, our data shows that high-intent, familiar IP is still required to move passive subscribers into active, engaged viewers. It also explains the typically lower density of light viewers on the service.
The reach vs. retention gap was most visible on HBO Max. While critically acclaimed prestige hits like The Last of Us reached a massive 19.2m accounts, only 21.4% of that audience were light viewers. In contrast, the animated film Flow reached a smaller audience of 3.9m but captured a far higher density of churn-risk users at 35.0%.
Live sports as subscription driver
Meanwhile, Netflix’s NFL Christmas Gameday events demonstrated the power of live sports to attract infrequent users at scale, with the two games reaching a combined total of over 33m accounts, of which roughly 30% were light viewers.
This one-off spike provides a perfect hand-off to returning franchise dramas like Wednesday (23.3% light viewers) and Squid Game (23.1%), which maintain engagement across their massive 68.7m and 59.5m respective reach.
This also points to another trend - live sport acting as a subscription driver, bringing in light viewers, who must then be captured by franchise content to prevent churn.
“The content that prevents churn is not always the content that dominates headlines or breaks overall reach records,” commented Digital i analyst Elena Mozzato. “Our 2025 analysis shows a clear 'reach vs. retention' gap.
“While critically acclaimed hits like The Last of Us draw massive audiences, it is the 'low-friction' titles - the familiar franchises and theatrical blockbusters - that disproportionately capture light viewers. These titles act as subscription stabilisers; by reducing decision friction for infrequent users, they provide a consistent reason to stay subscribed between major prestige releases.”
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ABOUT DIGITAL I
Digital i is a global streaming media measurement company that tracks subscriber engagement and content consumption through privacy-compliant, opt-in panels and proprietary data capture technology. Offering deep insights into what, where, when, why, and how viewers watch, Digital i empowers major streamers and studios to understand audiences like never before.
Founded in 2003, the company started out as a linear analytics firm and has since expanded to measure streaming audiences in more than 20 countries.
Digital i’s clients include streamers, broadcasters and media brands, who use viewing data analytics to negotiate better deals, compete on a global level, and find their niche in an ever-changing market.
Mark Layton
Communications Lead
mark.layton@digital-i.com
