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ESPN has launched its long-awaited direct-to-consumer subscription app, consolidating 12 networks and sports rights under one platform. Two tiers鈥擡SPN Select at $11.99/month and ESPN Unlimited at $29.99/month鈥攐ffer up to 79,000 live events annually, with Unlimited subscribers gaining access to marquee programming like Monday Night Football and NBA games. A Disney+/Hulu bundle is also available for $35.99/month, discounted in year one. Features include multiview, betting tools, live stats, fantasy integrations, and an AI-powered personalized SportsCenter. The move signals an existential reset for ESPN, aiming to convert cable loyalists and younger fans while stabilizing growth in a cord-cutting era.

The news: Streaming watch time outpaced cable and broadcast combined for the first time ever. Streaming accounted for 44.8% of TV viewing in May, per Nielsen, compared with broadcast鈥檚 20.1% and cable鈥檚 24.1%.Our take: With TV viewership increasingly fragmented, advertisers that abandon cable and broadband entirely could leave many consumers behind. Brands should use a hybrid placement model that makes selective investments in linear TV while using streaming to reach younger cord-cutters, helping to retain flexibility as user habits fluctuate.

WBD grows streaming profits as TV revenues decline: It added 6.4 million Max subscribers, but TV ad declines and cord-cutting continue.

Digital pay TV services are slowing cord-cutting. But the rate at which they replace traditional TV defectors is decelerating.

Traditional TV still commands the most time, but digital video and social are where younger and cord-cutting audiences are shifting. Optimize reach by balancing linear buys with OTT and social video placements. And don鈥檛 sleep on FAST鈥攊t鈥檚 an ad-friendly growth space. Related 蘑菇AV reports:. US Time Spent With Media 2025 Midyear Edition (蘑菇AV subscription required).

Fox One targets cord-cutters but intentionally avoids cannibalizing cable subscribers, who will receive access for free. Pricing hasn鈥檛 been revealed but is expected to match or exceed cable rates. The platform will coexist with existing offerings like Tubi, whose ad revenues keep rising, and Fox Nation, the latter of which will also be available as part of the Fox One bundle.

Cord-cutting, bundling, and price increases are all contributing to streaming services increasing their subscription revenues. While advertising is receiving growing attention, subscriptions still account for most streaming revenues. Key Question: How do streaming services' subscription revenues stack up compared with their advertising revenues?

Key Stat: YouTube adoption among children under 12 will surpass that of linear television by 2026 due to a combination of cord-cutting and YouTube鈥檚 accessibility. Executive Summary. Nearly three-quarters of Gen Alphas are online. This is in violation of most platforms鈥� age restrictions, and parents and legislators are addressing the issue.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss what's most to blame for this sustained ad spending rebound, what concerns us about it, and what we expect to see from ad spending in 2024. "In Other News," we talk about why ad-blocking rates are experiencing a gradual uptick and a cord-cutting milestone. Tune in to the discussion with our director of forecasting Peter Newman and vice president of content Paul Verna.

Subscription and ad-supported video-on-demand services like Netflix, Disney+, and Crave, as well as free ad-supported streaming TV channels like Pluto TV and Roku, have attracted substantial audiences among cord-cutters and younger age groups. Add the dominant YouTube to the list, and the menu only gets fuller. Podcasts and streaming are boosting digital listenership.

Correlation is not causation, but in this case, it seems likely that sub OTT is stealing time from TV鈥攅ven among non-cord-cutters. FAST is already very popular among those who have discovered it. Most consumers are not yet FAST viewers, but those who are will spend 54 minutes a day with the format this year and 57 minutes next year.

DirecTV enters FAST streaming space: This new service offers free, ad-supported content and genre-specific bundles, aiming to attract cord-cutters and younger audiences.

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.

Its ad tech expertise and AI-driven optimization position it to deliver highly targeted ads in the growing CTV ad space, helping brands reach cord-cutters and streaming audiences. Deeper partnerships with telecom carriers and device manufacturers will unlock new monetization opportunities.

Since then, a proliferation of new platforms, an acceleration in cord-cutting, and a general increase in US time spent with media have led to an unprecedented surge in sub OTT engagement. Click here to view our full forecast for time spent with subscription OTT video. Growth in time spent with sub OTT is much slower than it once was, but its outlook is positive compared with most other forms of media.

The total number of traditional pay TV households fell behind the total number of cord-cutter and cord-never households back in 2022. However, that pivot point was not as ominous for the TV industry as it could have been thanks to the emergence of digital pay TV, which meant that most linear TV channels were still reaching most households even in 2024. That reprieve is now over.

Cord-cutters who pivot to digital pay TV (which is a form of sub OTT) are far outnumbered by those who abandon pay TV entirely. Click here to view our full forecast for US traditional pay TV households or US digital pay TV households. Soaring subscription fees are debilitating both traditional and digital pay TV. Traditional pay TV has suffered years of decline thanks to unmanageable carriage fees.

Despite all the audience erosion due to cord-cutting, annual upfront linear TV CPM increases exceeded inflation for numerous years, according to Media Dynamics. That trend reversed over the past two years when advertisers became more aggressive in demanding price rollbacks, and upfront CPMs declined.

Cord-cutting will continue. People will continue to increase the amount of time they spend streaming video. But as this happens, the overwhelming share of time people spend looking at ads on TV screens will still come from old-school TV. CTV ad spending and ad inventory are growing, but from a smaller base compared with linear TV. Analyzing impressions remains a key aspect of ad campaigns.

The number of people who watch live sports via traditional TV continues to shrink because cord-cutting is reducing the number of total traditional TV viewers. However, people who still pay for traditional TV are actually more likely to watch live sports than they used to be. This year, more than three-fourths of traditional pay TV viewers will watch live sports monthly.

On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss our 鈥榲ery specific, but highly unlikely鈥� predictions for 2025. What would happen to the social media world if OpenAI bought Snap, what if Starbucks launched a Stablecoin, and why some companies might still want to buy linear networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Vice Presidents of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Paul Verna, and Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.