Nearly five million people in UK use pirated TV services

Nearly five million people in the UK admit to using pirated TV streaming services, with 17% of them cancelling TV subscriptions as a result.

This is the finding of market research firm YouGov, which also found that a further 2.6 million people plan to use pirated streaming services soon, while a third of those who illegally stream TV plan to cancel their subscriptions.

The survey found that 18-34 year-olds accounted for 37% of users.

The news highlights the threat posed by the illegal pirating of content to subscription TV services.

According to YouGov, there is a real danger that if people get used to accessing TV services for free, it will be hard to convince them to pay for content in future.

It appears that some damage has already been done, with over 60% of people saying they would recommend illegal streaming to friends and family.

A qualitative study by YouGov alongside the research found that many people saw the price of subscriptions as simply “ripping people off”.

Others thought that “by using a pirate streaming platform they were not harming the industry as it already makes a lot of money”. 

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show the UK population stands at more than 65 million.