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Smaller platform Peacock is turning its business around. NBCUniversal鈥檚 Peacock reduced losses by over $400 million YoY and grew its revenues 16% to $1.2 billion, gaining 5 million paid subscribers QoQ. Despite an uncertain economy, we forecast Peacock鈥檚 ad revenues will grow 6.2% in 2025.

YouTube expanded pause ads to smart TVs last year, following similar strategies from services like HBO Max, Peacock, and Hulu. 51% of viewers have taken action after viewing a pause ad, per the Video Advertising Bureau鈥攅nticing CTV platforms like Netflix to test shoppable pause ad formats.

Demand for sports and low-cost streaming are driving ad-supported subscriptions at Netflix and Peacock, but YouTube remains king of digital video ad spend. Amazon鈥檚 next move is to grow the retail media market. The company is licensing its ad tech to other retailers in a pilot program as its own retail media growth begins to slow.

NBCUniversal-owned Peacock is adding NBA games to its sports roster, which includes college football and basketball games, soccer, NASCAR, and the Olympics. Netflix has entered the live sports battle, investing in boxing matches and NFL games, in addition to becoming the official streamer of the WWE.

Seven weeks after the game, 71% of those new subscribers had not canceled Peacock. NBCUniversal and Amazon paid a fortune for NBA rights in the hopes that Peacock and Prime Video would continue to gain and maintain subscribers due to exclusive sports rights. We forecast that live sports viewing will keep shrinking on traditional TV and growing on digital services.

MNTN鈥檚 self-serve approach opens the door for smaller advertisers to tap into platforms like Hulu, Peacock, and HBO Max with measurable outcomes. With ad-supported streaming now making up 46% of subscriptions and 57% of Q1 gross ads, the addressable market is expanding fast. That said, macro conditions remain a factor.

Peacock soars but has catching up to do: Olympics gave the streamer its best month ever in August, but viewership was still dwarfed by Netflix and YouTube.

In part one of this two-part podcast episode, we discuss some medium-term predictions that are too specific to be 100% certain about but could still come true, including: why the sentiment towards GenAI might turn, what to expect from Google鈥檚 new consent workflow now that it is not phasing out third-party cookies from Chrome, and why Tubi might be about to leapfrog Hulu, Disney+, and Peacock. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson, and analysts Ross Benes, Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Max Willens.

Younger consumers are increasingly turning to these services, and FAST options like the Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Tubi account for a higher share of US TV use (4.3%) than Peacock, Max, and Paramount+ combined (3.7%), per a Nielsen Gauge report, indicating these channels are gaining value.

Nielsen鈥檚 Gauge previously found that FAST services like the Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV account for a higher share of US TV use (4.3%) than the combined usage of Paramount+, Peacock, and Max (3.7%), which all include advertisements for specific subscription tiers. This indicates that advertisers could find more value in FAST services than ad-supported subscription video-on-demand.

Now there are hundreds of channels, with major media companies creating their own Netflix competitors鈥攆rom Max to Disney+ to Peacock and beyond. This rapid acceleration in viewership and new streaming players has created massive market fragmentation that the old TV targeting and measurement methods can鈥檛 tackle.

Besides the 2024 Peacock blip, positive and negative time spent growth rates consistently hover in the low single digits across every platform. Netflix鈥檚 ad-supported users seem to be less engaged, and that鈥檚 constraining its time spent growth.

The news: NBCUniversal and Macy鈥檚 struck a 10-year deal for the rights to broadcast the annual Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, per NBCUniversal, renewing their longstanding partnership. The deal also includes rights to Macy鈥檚 Countdown to Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade and Macy鈥檚 4th of July Fireworks special, along with a new program that is yet to be announced.

Peacock is also adding NBA games to a sports roster that includes NFL games, college football, college basketball, soccer, NASCAR, and Olympics coverage. The Roku Channel features Sunday morning MLB games. Sports broadcasts on linear TV networks are streamable through digital pay TV services like Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.

Peacock keeps losing money, but its parent company Comcast continues to buy into streaming. If Peacock鈥檚 ad revenues make a meaningful jump over the next year, it will likely be due to its sports programming investments. Peacock struck ratings gold with its Olympics coverage this summer, which contributed to an increase of 2.8 million subscribers during the first week.

The retailer is also offering 50% off a one-year membership, which now includes a limited-time perk: three months of Peacock Premium streaming access. Improving the in-store experience: Target is expanding its physical footprint and renovating nearly 2,000 stores to create a more welcoming and engaging shopping environment.

NBCU's president of advertising and partnerships Alison Levin highlighted that 70% of its content hours are live moments, which it has intentionally made available on streaming platforms like Peacock.

And most Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount+ viewers choose ad plans. But fewer than one-fourth of Netflix viewers are ad supported, and most Max and Disney+ viewers are ad-free, too. Taken together, viewing patterns don鈥檛 always translate to advertising patterns.

If the economy stabilizes, Netflix and Peacock will join the ranks of the $2 billion ad revenue club this year. The numbers below are our best-case scenario Q1 estimates for 2025. These figures are still within reach should the tariff chaos be shorter-lived than expected. Among these large players, Netflix, Walmart, TikTok, and Amazon are set for the fastest growth, at least in theory.

Peacock expands its reach beyond the home: Exclusive live sports to be shown in commercial venues, diversifying audience and increasing brand visibility.

The majority of subscription video-on-demand sign-ups on Peacock and Hulu are ad-supported, according to Antenna, accounting for 69% and 58% of overall subscription plans, respectively.

On today's episode, we discuss how Spotify beat expectations, why a price hike is inbound, and the audio streaming company's relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). "In Other News," we talk about AI-powered ads for Google and whether Peacock can survive the streaming wars. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

On today's episode, we discuss how much Netflix's new ad tier has helped subscriber growth, how the impending launch of its password-sharing initiative will play out, and what happens now that Reed Hastings has stepped down as CEO. "In Other News," we talk about how Peacock can right the ship and how many streaming services the average American subscribes to. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Daniel Konstantinovic and Paul Verna.

On today's episode, we discuss whether Microsoft鈥檚 AI-powered Bing can take share from Google, if social platforms can compete with Amazon on product search, and what to make of the idea that Apple might release its own search engine. "In Other News," we talk about what watching Peacock in the metaverse looks like and how people feel about all of their subscriptions. Tune in to the discussion with our director of forecasting Peter Newman and analyst Max Willens.