How many UK households have a Netflix subscription? What percentage of Meta’s total revenue comes from scam ads? What was the smartphone usage rate in the UAE in 2025?

In this quiz edition of The MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire’s head of marketing Grainne Reid is joined by COO Lindsay Rowntree and John Still, head of content. They look into the changing TV and streaming landscape, tolerances for fraudulent ads (and insects in chocolate), and open web versus mobile advertising.

SVOD Subscriptions

According to Barb, around 18 million, or 60.9% of UK households have a Netflix subscription. This figure was up from 17.6 million in Q3, down to Stranger Things activity. Meanwhile, Prime subscriptions comprise 13.8 million, and Disney Plus is in third place with 7.6 million. Overall, 20.6 million homes in the UK have access to at least one subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) service.

Scam ads on Meta's platforms

According to a November Reuters report, Meta had internally projected that about 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from fradulent advertising on its platforms. However, Meta has disputed this, claiming that genuine scam activity accounted for only 3-4% of its revenue – between US$5 to 7 billion.

Smartphone use in MENA

In 2025, smartphone usage rate in the UAE hit a high of 96%. According to the 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index, the UAE also leads the world's usage in mobile phone shopping. The report showed 67% of UAE consumers had used their phones for their most recent purchases, surpassing other tech-savvy markets like Saudi Arabia (66%) and Singapore (65%).

We're delighted to be heading to MENA for our first ever ATS Dubai event in November. If you're interested in commercial opportunities at the event, contact sales@thewirecorp.com