Extrapolating from a "nationally based representative survey of 1000 Australian adults," Finder, which bills itself as "Australia's most viewed comparison site", has written a report that says "more than two in five Australians (44%) admit to using a family member or friend’s streaming service – equivalent to 8.5 million people."

This means that "with 88% of Aussie’s watching streaming services, that means half of Internet TV users are mooching off someone."

Aussies are most likely to freeload off someone else’s Netflix account (24%), followed by Stan (17%), Disney+ (14%) and Amazon Prime Video (12%).

We're told that "Gen Z are the most likely to freeload, with a whopping 74% saying they use a service that isn’t in their name. Over half of Gen Xers are freeloaders (51%), compared to 38% of Gen Yers and one in five (20%) baby boomers."

Finder’s streaming editor, James Dampney, said that sharing Internet TV subscriptions can be a great way to save cash, and stated: "Instead of paying for multiple Internet TV accounts, consider account sharing with friends or family. This is an easy way to cut costs while retaining the benefits of multiple subscriptions.

“Make sure to keep track of who is paying for each service, and who has login privileges – sometimes siblings or old housemates can end up mooching off your account.

“Even if you’re sharing accounts with other people, remember to cancel any services that you aren’t using – this is a pointless money drain", Dampney continued.

Finder also reveals that "Netflix remains Australia’s best rated Internet TV service", with Dampney stating: "Netflix has taken out the Finder Award for Internet TV, with 98% of Aussies recommending the service, earning top scores across metrics like value for money, quality of content and range of content."

The second highest recommendation score of 98% goes to Amazon Prime Video, with Stan at 87%, Kayo at 85% and BINGE at 83%.

The full report at Finder can be found here, with several more graphs of interesting info. 

Finder also has tips on how you can save on your streaming costs:

• Downgrade your subscriptions. Rather than pay for an individual account, you may have the option to take out a family plan for less money. For instance Spotify now offers Spotify Family or Spotify Duo for people living under the same roof.
• Consider cutting down. Use a budgeting app to review your subscription service expenses over the last month and look for opportunities to cut down. The mere sight of how much you’re forking out each month could be enough to convince you to drop a few unnecessary services.
• Opt for free instead of paid services. You can swap paid streaming services like Netflix or Stan for free to air content like ABC iview or SBS On Demand. You don’t need to pay for more than one subscription service, so pick your favourite and substitute the others with free services.