The journey of consumers leaving traditional pay TV hasn’t always been that visible in terms of which services they land on in streaming after cutting the cord, but fresh data from Antenna sheds a little light on what was seen in Q1.
Per Antenna’s Cord Cutter Insights estimates, the first month after a consumer cancels an MVPD service is critical for sign-ups to a new streaming service, as 31% of cord-cutters do so within that window. The firm said cord-cutters sign up for streaming services at 5x the normal sign-up rate during that first month post-pay TV cancellation. It defines U.S. traditional cord-cutters as those who cancel and MVPD service and don’t sign up for a virtual MVPD or streaming pay TV service like YouTube TV or Sling TV within one month.
So which premium SVODs did U.S. traditional cord-cutters end up with in Q1 shortly after exiting traditional pay TV?
Antenna estimates show Paramount+ Premium as leading the pack while pricier ad-free tiers in general appear to be attracting cord cutters.
Before getting more into the findings, while shedding some light, it’s worth noting that Antenna data doesn’t draw a direct straight line from pay TV cancelation to new SVOD sign-ups for cord-cutters. It reaches estimates of cord-cutting cohorts (often inferred from credit card data based on the absence of payment on the subscriptions lapse date) and estimates top SVOD plan penetration rates for cord-cutters after pay TV cancelation (or the percent of the total cancel cohort that was subscribed to a given SVOD one month following their MVPD exit).
And those leaving pay TV aren’t entirely new to streaming services, so readers should keep in mind that Antenna estimates 72% of traditional cord cutters in the U.S. had at least one premium SVOD before they canceled pay TV.
With that said, Antenna estimates that in Q1, nearly 14% of traditional cord-cutters held the ad-free Paramount+ Premium plan in the first month after cancellation – representing the highest penetration.
Paramount+ was followed by the Netflix Premium ad-free tier (11.5%), Peacock Premium (9.5%) and Netflix’s Standard ad-free plans (9.5%).
Among premium SVOD services, the appetite for premium ad-free plans is notable, where Netflix’s penetration for its Ads plan among cord-cutters within the 1-month post cancellation window was below that of both premium and basic ad-free tiers at 9.3%.
Despite the prevalence of cheaper ad-supported SVOD tiers, ad-free plans accounted for half of the top 10 highest penetration plans in Q1 for those within the first month of cutting the cord.
And the firm’s demographic data suggests a counter to the notion that cord-cutting in general is motivated by price sensitivity and therefore largely driven by those with lower household incomes.
But per Antenna estimates, the share of individuals with household incomes of $100,000 or less who canceled an MVPD service between January 2024 and March 2026 is 61% - or the same share of the general population.
However, while lower household income might not be the only factor, it doesn’t necessarily mean that cord-cutters aren’t seeking better value or not concerned with price via streaming, as the monthly cost of an individual premium SVOD – even ad-free plans – is still arguably lower than that of a full traditional pay TV lineup..
Additionally, as recent Hub Entertainment Research survey data showed, when weighing the value of a TV service, low price was consumers’ top attribute (cited by 21% of respondents) and has increased in importance versus 2025, but no ads in content maintained its importance in the perceived value rankings (cited by 8%).
Considering that following a pay TV exit Antenna estimates showing cord-cutters flock towards ad-free plans is interesting (although maybe not completely surprising given that traditional linear TV historically has had longer ad loads than streaming) and perhaps something to keep in mind as streamers work to drive ad revenue but also likely need to keep ad loads in check.
Antenna’s analysis didn’t include insights into why consumers picked up a certain service but Paramount+ led the pack for penetration among cord-cutters and we’ll note that its premium SVOD service does offer much of the content available from the media company on its pay TV channels like scripted series from Taylor Sheridan as well as live news and sports via linear streaming channels including CBS, as well as exclusive live events like UFC.
And with separate data from Ampere Analysis recently showing that major streaming services are widening the gap between ad-supported and ad-free subscriptions tiers, we’ll also note that Paramount+ Premium (which is ad-free for most content and also includes Showtime) is just $5 more per month than its ad-supported Essentials plan. In Q1 Paramount’s ad plan penetration with cord-cutters one month after they left pay TV was 7% versus 13.7% for ad-free.
The cost gap for Netflix is wider, where the streamer’s standard ad-free plan is priced $11 higher per month than its standard plan with ads – but penetration with cord-cutters post-pay TV exit , per Antenna, was roughly similar and still below the yet pricier premium ad-free plan (priced at $27 per month, or around $7 more than standard ad-free).
Still, although Antenna estimates nearly one-third of cord-cutters sign up for a new SVOD service within that one month-post cancellation window (making them an important segment for media companies) and gives some signals about where they’re headed, there’s still a large remaining percentage of the pay TV cancel cohort that continues to be somewhat of a black box for streamers.
But with the first 30 days after canceling pay TV critical, marketing to and serving up the right types of offers to these consumers during that time frame could help premium SVODs ensure they capture their share.