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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.

More subscription video streaming services are pushing advertising. At the same time, free ad-supported streamers are gaining viewers. These developments provide advertisers with more options to find audiences.

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.

Among digital activities, subscription OTT (sub OTT), social networks, and digital audio take up the most time. Sub OTT and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) are among the few activities still seeing meaningful annual growth in time spent. Most others will be stagnant or even decline. For active users of specific formats, traditional TV (4:01) remains the most popular, followed by sub OTT (2:43).

Forty-seven percent of consumers say they pay too much for subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) while 41% say SVOD content isn鈥檛 worth the price, up 5% from 2024. Only 49% of respondents have a cable or satellite TV subscription, down from 63% three years ago.

Time spent with subscription OTT (sub OTT) will grow a few percentage points per year for the next few years. Netflix鈥檚 share of total time spent in 2024 was larger than that of any other streaming service, according to Comscore. The vast majority of Netflix viewing is still happening ad-free.

The news: Vimeo has launched Vimeo Streaming, a subscription video platform built to help creators launch polished, branded streaming apps across mobile and CTV, with no coding or infrastructure required. Tools include flexible subscription tiers, DRM and piracy protection, event ticketing, merchandising integrations, and AI-powered multilingual translation supporting 28 languages.

The sports rights spending of subscription OTT services will increase by more than $3 billion this year to reach $8.5 billion worldwide, according to Ampere Analysis. Their monthly viewership will also grow, per our forecast, surpassing 2 billion for the first time in 2023.

Zooming out: The findings align with streaming trends, with both subscription OTT video viewers and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) viewers climbing steadily, per our forecasts. Continued growth in ad-supported streaming is helping boost overall share of subscription streaming viewers.

Netflix鈥檚 ad-supported video-on-demand experiment got off to a bumpy start in late 2022 and early 2023, but by 2024, the US leader in subscription OTT (sub OTT) viewership had righted the ship. With its ad tier proving to be incredibly popular and its ad tech improving, we forecast 43.0% growth for 2025, reaching $2.07 billion.

Subscription OTT services, for instance, will earn $2.48 billion in ad revenues on mobile or other devices in 2026. But their bread and butter will remain CTV, where they will generate 84.7% of their ad sales in 2026, for a total of $16.23 billion across devices. CTV also serves ads for a small but rapidly growing part of retail media ad sales.

It would be poorly timed given the proliferation of ad-supported subscription OTT tiers, free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST), and digital pay TV services counting on CTV鈥檚 momentum. But CTV is also well-positioned to ride out 2025鈥檚 instability if the worst-case economic scenario does not come to pass. Click here to view our full forecast for US connected TV ad spending.

This indicates that advertisers could find more value in FAST services than ad-supported subscription video-on-demand.

This is the Q1 2025 installment of our quarterly 鈥淎d Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.