蘑菇AV

Companies like NBCU, in contrast, can use offerings like NBC + Peacock to pair sports with broader content categories. Disney鈥檚 connected TV (CTV) strategy with Disney+ and Hulu hasn鈥檛 effectively scaled sports streaming as aggressively as Peacock or Fox via Tubi, both of which have leaned into sports to drive digital growth. A lack of tentpole events is stalling notable growth.

TikTok, Walmart, Peacock, and Reddit are among those making meaningful strides in these areas.

. $12.99/month is priced lower than other ad-free plans on rivals Netflix ($17.99/month), Peacock ($16.99/month), and Disney+ ($15.99/month). Apple TV+ isn鈥檛 alone in price increases either鈥擭etflix, Peacock, and Spotify have also raised prices in 2025, per the Los Angeles Times.

Overall viewership growth rates will be in the single digits for every major sub OTT platform other than Peacock (12.7% increase). However, on the ad tier side, AVOD viewership will boom for several major streamers. Max (33.3%), Netflix (19.1%), Disney+ (16.6%), and Peacock (14.3%) will see significant surges in their ad-viewing user base.

It trails only Peacock among midsize platforms and already reaches nearly one-third of the US population, with more growth likely from international expansion. 2. Is HBO Max growing ad revenues without overwhelming users? Max ran just 3.1 minutes of ads per hour in Q2 2024, among the lowest in streaming.

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.

Peacock also saw notable gains, with usage increasing 13.4%, largely driven by the new season of 鈥淟ove Island USA.鈥�. Yes, but: While audience attention is shifting to streaming, there are several caveats for advertisers hoping to capitalize on the rise of connected TV (CTV). CTV ads haven鈥檛 proven their effectiveness in driving action.

Netflix is the streaming partner of the WWE, Amazon Prime maintains an 11-year deal with the NBA and WNBA, Peacock has an NBA package, and ESPN is exploring a flagship streaming service. Apple TV is trying to catch up with its competitors. The TikTok deal highlights Apple TV鈥檚 MLS season pass as the platform eyes other sports investments to build its viewer base.

Netflix is also growing its ad-supported viewer base much faster than most competitors, including Disney+, Peacock, Hulu, and Prime Video. If households start cutting down subscriptions, Netflix鈥檚 strength as the top name in streaming makes it an unlikely first cancellation against other options.

And the shift from traditional TV to digital platforms for live sports viewing is creating even more advertising opportunities, giving advertisers a chance to reach customers across channels鈥攅xactly why NBCU will also air the upcoming Super Bowl on Peacock. Understanding what works: For advertisers looking to take advantage of the Super Bowl鈥檚 unmatched potential, it鈥檚 essential to know what works.

Zooming out: Disney鈥檚 stagnant ad spend growth during its 2025 Upfronts showed cracks in its sports portfolio, especially compared with smaller streaming competitor Peacock, which will host both the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl in 2026.

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.

Platform power results in lower pricing: By offering hundreds of apps, Xfinity gains leverage to push bundles like StreamSaver, which packages Apple TV+, ad-supported Netflix, and Peacock for $15/month鈥攁 strong value play. A challenge: A monster catalog of apps and titles risks choice fatigue, making discovery harder despite the ease of centralization.

Yet fragmentation persists; marquee events like the NBA Playoffs and World Cup remain on rival platforms like Peacock and Prime Video. As Deadline noted, even die-hard ESPN subscribers must juggle multiple services to catch all the biggest games. Viewing behavior complicates matters. Casual fans who just want 鈥渨hatever鈥檚 on鈥� could default to ESPN Unlimited as a convenient hub.

NBCUniversal is eyeing a dedicated sports cable network to showcase sports content available on Peacock, like NBA games, to a linear audience鈥攃ombining the growing reach of digital with the enduring relevance of cable. NBCU is already seeing major success from its sports investments like the Olympics, driving record-breaking Upfront sales.

Platforms like Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock have already integrated free ad-supported and paid tiers within a single app. This trend has pushed Netflix and Disney+ to expand ad tiers, and Amazon is now consolidating all video-on-demand (VOD) under Prime Video. The challenge will be in how effectively platforms can retain their ad-supported audiences in larger, unified services.

The presentation also highlighted that the Super Bowl LX will air on NBC and Peacock鈥攁 deal that is almost guaranteed to be successful, as the last Super Bowl set all-time viewership records. But while NBCU highlighted that Peacock will have over 7,500 hours of sports in the next year, the presentation also showed that it鈥檚 looking to diversify its streaming offerings beyond sports.

Games will also be available on NBCU鈥檚 streaming service, Peacock. NBCU is reportedly offering far less than the $550 million a year ESPN was paying for MLB rights, though it鈥檚 unclear whether the offer is higher than ESPN鈥檚 renegotiated amount of $200 million annually.

Nearly half (46%) of US streaming subscribers now pay for ad-supported tiers across platforms like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, and others, according to a new report from Antenna. Over the past nine quarters, 71% of net new subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) subscribers have come from ad-supported plans.

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.

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.

Comcast Q3 performance fueled by streaming and live sports: Olympics and Peacock growth attract high-value audiences for advertisers.

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.