Amazon Prime Video accounts for the majority of ad-tier uptake in the region, holding 55% of all ad-tier subscriptions in Q1 2025, followed by Netflix with 19% and Disney+ with 7%. When looking at the proportion within each platform’s own subscriber base, 82% of Amazon Prime Video subscribers in Western Europe are now on the ad tier, compared to 16% of Netflix subscribers and 15% of Disney+ subscribers.

This reflects the differences in strategy for the streamers: Amazon Prime Video chose an opt-out approach, where existing subscribers in its six ad-tier markets, including the EU ‘big five’ and Austria, were automatically transferred to the ad-tier with the option to pay a premium for the ad-free service. Netflix and Disney+, by contrast, gave subscribers the option to transfer onto the cheaper ad-tier.

The UK has seen the fastest ad-tier uptake, reaching 23.6m ad-tier subscribers in Q1 2025, just under half of all subscription OTT subscriptions in the market. As seen in the wider region, Amazon is leading the drive, but the optional Netflix and Disney+ ad-tiers are also proving popular. According to Ampere’s Subscription Video Economics UK tool, which tracks SVoD signup and churn based on half a million panellists, 50% and 55% of new Netflix and Disney+ sign-ups in the first half of 2025 joined onto the ad-tier.

This reflects UK consumer attitudes: In the Q1 2025 wave of Ampere’s Media Consumer survey, UK Internet households were 18% more likely than the Western European average to say they are willing to see ads in return for cheaper subscription costs, and 8% more likely to indicate cost as a churn motivator.