Ä¢¹½AV

Ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) services will gain more than triple the US viewers that subscription OTT video will this year, per our forecast. AVOD will add 13.3 million viewers, including 4.3 million from free premium platforms, for a total of 157.1 million. Meanwhile, subscription OTT services will gain 4.3 million viewers to reach 222.2 million.

Although growth in these services is slowing, the milestone is another indicator of consumer appetite for ad-supported streaming. Household viewing continues its shift to digital. Our forecasts for viewing habits by household show important tipping points in the ongoing migration from traditional TV to digital alternatives. Less than half of US households now subscribe to traditional pay TV.

Among subscription video streaming services, Amazon Prime Video has the highest share of ad-supported viewers, while Netflix has the lowest.

Over 55% of sign-ups in ad-supported markets came from the ads plan, with ad memberships growing nearly 30% from Q3 2024. Pricing power: Netflix raised its US Standard plan from $15.49 to $17.99 per month, the first hike for this tier in three years. The Premium plan increased by $2 to $24.99, and the ad-supported tier rose from $6.99 to $7.99—the first increase since its 2022 launch.

Connected TV is no longer a niche ad channel—it’s the new normal. With streaming platforms adding ad-supported tiers and Amazon flooding the market with inventory, CPMs are dropping while ad opportunities expand.

The Indian streaming landscape has 219.3 million viewers watching ad-supported content exclusively, while only 39.3 million maintain their own paid subscriptions (as opposed to sharing an account with friends or family). Disney+ Hotstar has an ad-supported plan called Super, and its Premium plan is ad-free, except for live sports.

Ad-supported streaming grows: 66% of US viewers prefer affordability as Netflix and Amazon refine ad strategies with lighter loads and live content.

Disney will attract major attention at Upfronts: Ad-supported subscribers surpassed 157 million, giving it a leg up over the competition.

As ad-supported OTT continues to grow, this will contribute to the rapid increase in mobile video advertising. Social platforms also continue to push video advertising. Social platforms will sell $43.03 billion in native video ads in 2024, with virtually all of it on mobile. TikTok’s ad business alone will grow 31.0% YoY in 2024—and it’s mostly video.

Politics will buoy linear TV ad spending this year, but allocations will continue to shift toward streaming options that keep gaining ad-supported viewers.

Netflix, for example, only reveals monthly active users for its ad-supported tier (it recently reported 70 million monthly active ad-supported users). With 30% of global subscribers using the AVOD tier (excluding Disney+ Hotstar, the Indian streaming service), that gives Disney+ an ad-supported subscriber count of 36.81 million. That number is likely to grow significantly in the coming quarters.

We forecast that about 80% of Amazon’s 130.4 million US Prime Video viewers use its ad-supported tier, giving it an advertising audience of approximately 104.3 million. By comparison, Netflix recently said it has 70 million global monthly ad-supported viewers, and Disney CEO Bob Iger let slip that 37% of its US Disney+ subscribers and 30% worldwide use its ad-supported tier.

As 2023 comes to an end, this is the data you need to kick-start 2024.

Two-thirds of US TV viewers (66%) would rather watch ads and save $4 to $5 a month than spend the money to ditch ads, according to June 2024 data from Hub Research. That’s up five percentage points from June 2023. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Max all have ad-supported tiers now, and consumers benefit by saving a few dollars along the way. Advertisers can capitalize on these cost-saving behaviors by reaching consumers with messaging that emphasizes discounts and deals.