The longstanding industry belief that families with children are the cornerstone of subscription stability is being redefined in the current TV landscape, according to Hub Entertainment Research’s latest analysis. Drawing from three key reports—“TV Churn Tracker,” “The Best Bundle,” and “Conquering Content”—Hub’s findings suggest that while families continue to invest heavily in bundled entertainment, their loyalty to any one provider is more fragile than ever.
Among the study’s most telling insights is that over eighty percent of parents subscribe to at least two of the five leading SVOD services—Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Max, and Prime Video—compared to much lower figures among non-parents. Furthermore, more than one-third of families with children spend in excess of $100 per month on TV subscriptions. This marks them as high-value consumers, especially when compared with non-parents, who typically spend far less and subscribe to fewer services.
Parents are also disproportionately active in premium content and transactional video markets. According to “The Best Bundle,” over half of parents purchase or rent movies via streaming platforms, more than double the rate among those without children. In addition, forty-four percent of parents use video-on-demand services weekly, compared to just twenty-five percent of non-parents.
However, despite their financial investment, parents watch notably less TV—on average, two and a half hours less per week than viewers without kids. This paradox reflects a key tension: while families are high-spending users, they are not high-engagement users. Pressed for time due to work and parenting responsibilities, many parents maintain subscriptions out of convenience or aspirational viewing habits rather than day-to-day consumption.
The analysis also reveals a generational shift that impacts loyalty. With seventy-five percent of parents falling into Millennial or Gen Z cohorts, expectations around content access, price flexibility, and cancellation ease are radically different from prior generations. This newer demographic, raised in an on-demand, internet-native environment, is less tolerant of rigid bundling and more prone to churn.
Hub’s findings suggest that although children remain an important factor in household media decisions, the assumption that kid-centric content guarantees subscriber retention no longer holds. In the heyday of cable, channels like Nickelodeon and Disney acted as gatekeepers of household loyalty. But in 2025, the frictionless cancellation models and content abundance offered by modern platforms mean parents will drop services quickly if value or relevance slips.
"The old paradigm that kids content keeps households locked in is breaking down," said Hub's analyst. "Today’s parents are not just viewers—they are cost-conscious consumers who demand choice and control. Bundling still works, but only if it evolves with them."
These dynamics suggest a strategic rethink for MVPDs, SVODs, and FAST providers seeking to retain family households. Traditional bundling needs to be paired with intelligent, flexible packaging and content strategies that resonate with younger, tech-savvy parents. While the family demo continues to drive average revenue per user higher, it no longer guarantees the stickiness once taken for granted in the industry.