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The cuts will affect 15% of the US workforce, which equates to around 2,000 employees. A second phase of layoffs that started earlier this year comes as Paramount faces declining TV viewership and rising streaming costs. Paramount agreed to merge with Skydance Media in July.

As the TV and streaming landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, the terms used to describe different ways to watch are multiplying. We鈥檝e already broken down the difference between connected TV (CTV) and OTT. With subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms becoming ad-supported SVODs, and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) platforms building out free ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms, it鈥檚 difficult to keep track of what cord-cutters are actually watching. Here鈥檚 a breakdown.

In 2019, Roku, Hulu, and YouTube made up about half (45.9%) of the US CTV ad market. Now, they鈥檙e down to about one-third. What鈥檚 changed? Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max have jumped into the deep end of CTV ad spend. Amazon is hanging out there too, with ads on Freevee and live sports. And social video has expanded, with TikTok eyeing CTV formats.

The range of costs per thousand on major US streaming services is narrowing as new entrants Netflix and Disney+ come down from their initial ad-tier launch highs in late 2022.

However, Netflix will still lead the race among all paid and free OTT services this year with 170.6 million US viewers. Amazon鈥檚 Freevee, which has gained buzz with its original show 鈥淛ury Duty,鈥� will experience double digit (10.5%) growth this year鈥攖he highest among the FAST platforms we track. To view our full FAST user forecast, including projections out to 2027, click here.

CTV has solidified its place as a major ad spending category, with an expected $28.75 billion in US ad spend this year, per our forecast, rising to $44.32 billion by 2028. CTVs allow for much more flexible advertising than linear TV and other traditional media.

In June, just 20.9% of US TV ad spending appeared in new programming, which was a 10-percentage-point drop over the previous month, per Guideline. A July poll by CivicScience found 59% of US adults were likely to watch reruns on network TV. With empty slots in its fall lineup, CBS is airing 鈥淵ellowstone,鈥� which originally premiered on cable sister-channel Paramount Network.