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Are you wasting money on PlayStation Now or TalkTalk TV?

Emma Lunn
Written By:
Emma Lunn
Posted:
Updated:
19/08/2021

A poll by MoneySavingExpert.com found the two services were people’s least-used subscriptions.

The poll of the site’s users looked at what subscription services people paid for and how often they used them.

More than eight in 10 people who pay for PlayStation Now (82%) and TalkTalk TV (85%) hadn’t used them in over a year – more than any other service.

PlayStation Now is a game subscription service that gives PlayStation consoles owners access to hundreds of games. But MoneySavingExpert found that of people who had a PlayStation Now subscription, only 9% used it daily, 3% a few times a week, 5% a few times a month and 2% a few times a year.

TalkTalk TV offers Freeview channels, NOW TV and Netflix via the TalkTalk TV set-top box. Of TalkTalk TV users in the poll,  3% used it daily, 1% a few times a week, 8% a few times a month, and 4% a few times a year.

The most used subscriptions were Sky TV and Spotify, used daily by 63% and 48% respectively. Virgin TV was used daily by 34% of people signed up and Netflix 35%.

The findings of the survey highlight the need for people to regularly conduct a direct debit audit and check they’re not paying for services no longer used.

More than 2,000 people voted in the MoneySavingExpert poll, which ran between 10 and 17 August 2021. It asked respondents which subscription services they paid for and if they use the services every day, a few times a week, a few times a month, or a few times a year.

While not a representative sample of the UK population, the poll offers a snapshot of how often people use their paid-for subscriptions each week.

In contrast, Sky TV and Netflix were the most used with around eight in 10 customers (81% and 78% respectively) watching at least a few times a week.

The government said in July that it would crack down on ‘subscription traps’ to ensure firms make it easier for customers to cancel them. It comes as recent data from Barclaycard Payments, which processes nearly half of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions, found that nearly eight in 10 UK households are signed up to at least one subscription service.

A survey by TopCashback earlier this month found Brits are wasting nearly £3bn on subscriptions they rarely use.


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