Poland's streaming market hits maturity as torrent piracy climbs to 13%

The resurgence of piracy in a mature market like Poland signals that price sensitivity and subscription fatigue have reached a breaking point, despite high legal adoption. For the broader ecosystem, this indicates that the growth phase for direct-to-consumer services in Central and Eastern Europe is shifting toward a retention-focused era dominated by telco bundling and ad-supported tiers. If global streamers cannot balance ARPU growth with affordability, they risk losing the under-34 demographic to illegal alternatives that offer consolidated access. Watch for the performance of Netflix’s planned 2027 ad-tier rollout in Poland as a benchmark for whether low-cost tiers can successfully convert hybrid piracy users back to fully legal consumption.

The shift in Poland aligns with broader European trends where high-speed internet penetration has historically outpaced the willingness to pay for multiple niche services. Per Nielsen data from July 2025, streaming reached a historic 10.1% share of total television viewing time in Poland, a milestone that still lags behind the United States but reflects a steady move away from linear broadcast. However, the rise in piracy noted by WPP Media is particularly critical given Poland's history as a market where IP protection has faced challenges; a 2023 Deloitte study estimated that 7.3 million Polish consumers visit piracy sites, more than any single legal streaming service's subscriber base.

At the corporate level, the focus on ad-supported models is a global strategic pivot becoming localized. Netflix confirmed during its May 2026 upfront presentation that its ad-supported tier reached 250 million monthly active viewers globally and will expand into 15 more countries, including Poland, starting in 2027. This follows a period of contraction for major competitors; per company earnings reports, Disney+ lost 700,000 global subscribers in late 2024 following price hikes and password-sharing crackdowns, a trend that specifically impacted growth in price-sensitive markets like those in the CEE region.

Retention through aggregation remains the primary defense against this volatility. While global platforms like Prime Video still favor direct relationships, the WPP Media data shows that Polish domestic platforms and international players like HBO Max are increasingly dependent on 'super-aggregation' strategies with local telcos. This reflects a broader industry move where providers use bundling to hide individual price increases and reduce the 'churn-and-return' behavior common among younger viewers who, per Digital i research in January 2026, are the cohort most likely to alternate between legal tiers and torrenting.