Streaming fatigue meets AI anxiety in Deloitte's media report

Australians are spending less on digital subscriptions, turning to creators for purchasing advice and growing increasingly concerned about the blurred lines between real and AI-generated content.

These just a few of the findings in Deloitte's 15th annual Media & Entertainment Consumer Insights report, which found 75% of Australians are concerned about the cumulative cost of their subscriptions, while 76% regularly review the services they pay for.

This year's report shows monthly household spending on digital entertainment subscriptions has fallen 6% to $73, down from $78 in 2025.

Yet Australians aren't abandoning their subscriptions. The average household holds 3.8 services, up marginally from 3.7 last year, suggesting consumers are becoming more selective rather than walking away altogether.

Subscription video-on-demand penetration slipped from 83% to 81%, while 30% of respondents reported cancelling at least one subscription in the previous six months.

Younger consumers are feeling the squeeze particularly hard. Gen Z households reduced their average monthly subscription spending by $11 to $90, with 79% concerned about cumulative costs.

The findings also present a mixed picture for streaming advertising.

While 36% of Australians say they would accept more advertising to reduce subscription costs, 38% of SVOD subscribers identified an ad-free experience as something that could persuade them to stay with a service they were considering cancelling.

Beyond streaming, Australians reported spending an average of 45 hours and 20 minutes a week consuming media and entertainment, unchanged from 2025.

Video remains the largest category, accounting for 16 hours and 55 minutes a week, down from 19 hours and 55 minutes last year. Audio consumption increased to 13 hours and 30 minutes.

The report also highlights the growing commercial influence of content creators, with 38% of Australians saying they had purchased something following a creator recommendation in the past year. That figure rises to 61% among Gen Z.

AI credibility challenge

Artificial intelligence is also creating a credibility challenge for media companies and publishers. Three-quarters of Australians believe AI-generated content makes it harder to distinguish what is real online, while 84% want mandatory labelling of AI-generated material.

More significantly, 71% say they would stop using platforms that fail to disclose their use of AI, putting pressure on media companies to be transparent about how the technology is being deployed.

While traditional news publishers still command considerably more trust than AI-generated news, 79% of Australians say they have slightly more trust in national publishers, compared with just 38% for AI-generated news.

This year's findings are based on a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 Australians aged 16 to 91, conducted in July and August 2026.