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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.

In response, streamers like Netflix, Max, and Peacock are integrating more YouTube and creator content into their libraries. Netflix has also rolled out social features, including a vertical video feed for mobile and AI-powered recommendations, that cater to algorithmically driven viewing habits. New players have entered the battle for the living room screen.

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.

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 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.

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.

Amazon Prime Video and Peacock overindex on ad revenues the most, but their audiences are overwhelmingly on ad-supported tiers, making them an easy choice for marketers. Amazon also has attractive synergies as a retail media outlet.

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.

Sports streaming momentum keeps building: Roku and NBA team up on FAST channel as Peacock and Prime Video win more exclusive streaming deals.

Hulu was the star of upfront streaming spend in iSpot.tv鈥檚 March survey, with 74% of brands and advertisers saying they were allocating spend to the platform. YouTube TV also had a huge showing, with almost half (48%) of respondents saying they were assigning spend to it. Peacock, Roku, and Paramount+ rounded out the top five.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether the way people watch sports has changed, if Uber and Lyft will ever be able to turn a profit, whether Peacock can keep its head above water, what happened to the TikTok ban, what The Walt Disney Co. should do with ESPN, who's not on the internet, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and analysts Bill Fisher and Max Willens.

NBCUniversal highlights Peacock at upfront: Media titan reflects the industry's digital tilt amidst picketing and leadership changes

Peacock boomed last year thanks to the Olympics, but that unsustainable increase will result in a slight decline this year, despite Peacock鈥檚 own NBA acquisition. Social network users have maxed out, and a pullback is imminent. Last year may have been the peak for social media in the US.

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.

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.

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.

Netflix is already hot on the heels of Peacock, a platform that embraced ads from the very beginning, and not all that far behind longtime leader Hulu. Within a few years, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will likely be the leaders in sub OTT ad revenues.

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.

For instance, YouTuber MrBeast debuted the reality competition 鈥淏east Games鈥� on Amazon Prime Video last year, while Peacock launched four scripted shows by creators this spring. At the same time, social content is starting to look more like TV. Take Reesa Teesa鈥檚 viral 鈥淲ho TF Did I Marry?鈥� TikTok series, which is now being adapted for TV.

Over the past five years, Peacock launched, while Max, Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video introduced ad tiers. With so much additional CTV inventory now available, marketers are paying less for streaming ad space than they used to. In H1 2024, US connected TV (CTV) ad impressions served by FreeWheel grew 14% YoY.

The news: NFL ads are more effective than anything on linear鈥攂ut ads during streaming-exclusive games outperformed in the 2024-25 season. Streaming ads were 66% more effective than the cable and broadcast average during the most recent NFL season, per data from EDO. Our take: With streaming platforms capturing engaged audiences for tentpole sports like the NFL, advertisers can leverage CTV not just for reach, but for its superior ability to drive measurable action through precision targeting and interactive formats that linear doesn鈥檛 offer.

The news: Roku launched Howdy, a streaming service for just $2.99 per month. It will initially be available through the Roku platform, with further rollout on mobile and beyond in the works.Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time鈥攎ore than any other FAST provider鈥擱oku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal鈥攅specially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream. Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time鈥攎ore than any other FAST provider鈥擱oku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal鈥攅specially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream. Our take: With 2.5% of all TV watch time鈥攎ore than any other FAST provider鈥擱oku has the audience to promote Howdy effectively. It must ensure that Howdy feels essential, not disposable, and that its content delivers real value. Still, with price sensitivity increasing and tolerance for ads shrinking, Howdy has clear appeal鈥攅specially among users seeking affordable streaming without sacrificing experience. If Roku executes on distribution and content strategy, Howdy could quietly scale into a meaningful revenue stream.