As the cost of living skyrocketed, people drastically reduced their use of video streaming services in 2017.
According to analysts Kantar, the total number of paid video streaming subscriptions in the UK decreased by about two million, from 30.5m to 28.5m.
At Christmas, demand had increased once more, but people were "quickly looking to cut back again," according to Kantar.
The rate of price growth, known as inflation, is currently at its highest point in roughly 40 years, which is hurting people's finances.
The popularity of streaming in the UK has not diminished, but Dominic Sunnebo, global director of entertainment on demand for Kantar, noted that consumers were forced to make difficult decisions in order to balance their budgets due to high inflation.
"That financial strain meant reducing the number of subscriptions to video streaming services, especially since households frequently had three or more different services in the same household.
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