Digiday+ Research: How the top ad-supported streaming services stack up on ad spending and more

By Catherine Wolf

This is the first installment of a two-part series on the top ad-supported streaming services. This initial report provides an overview of the various platforms’ offerings, including pricing and plans, ad software and ad innovations, as well as an analysis of the platforms where brands and agencies distributed the bulk of their 2022 ad budgets and ad placements.

The second installment in this series, publishing April 27, will dive deep into the results of Digiday’s recent survey of brands and agencies to analyze how advertisers’ preferences for ad options, software, targeting and campaign measurement match up to the platforms’ offerings. We will also examine challenges advertisers face when placing ads on ad-supported streaming services and provide a guide to which platforms are right for key advertiser needs.

Introduction

More than three years after Covid-19 first took hold, Americans have returned, for all intents and purposes, to life as usual. Yet despite once again spending more time out of the home, viewers are still tuning in to streaming services in record numbers.

Streaming claimed the largest share of U.S. TV viewing in July 2022, according to Nielsen — a first after four consecutive months of hitting new viewership highs. Streaming viewership in a given month had exceeded broadcast viewing before, but this was the first time it also surpassed cable TV viewing. What’s more, Americans have been adopting ad-supported streaming services at a faster rate than purely subscription-based options: The number of U.S. homes streaming ad-supported streaming services increased 29% in 2022 versus a 21% increase in the same period for non-ad subscription-based streaming services, according to Comscore’s June 2022 State of Streaming report.

Taking note of consumers’ increased interest in ad-supported streaming services, Netflix launched Netflix Standard with Ads [formerly Netflix Basic with Ads] in November 2022 and The Walt Disney Company launched Disney+ Basic with Ads in December 2022. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery doubled down on its streaming offerings. The company announced earlier this month that it will relaunch HBO Max, including its ad-supported tier, under its new moniker “Max” in May 2023. Additional programming will come from sibling streamer Discovery+, while Discovery+ will also remain as a stand-alone platform.

In this, Digiday’s second annual report on the state of ad-supported streaming services, we present an industry-level look at the top ad-supported streaming platforms to assess:

What the platforms offer advertisers and consumers, including plans and pricing, audience reach, and ad options
What types of offerings advertisers say they need from platforms and where they spent the bulk of their 2022 ad budgets
And which platforms are best equipped to handle advertisers’ various needs

We’ve included the newer Netflix Standard with Ads [formerly Netflix Basic with Ads] and Disney+ Basic with Ads, as well as the revamped Max in our analysis.

Methodology

Digiday identified the top-earning ad-supported streaming services by 2022 ad revenue and also included other popular platforms selected by the Digiday editorial team for their prominence. …read more

Source:: Digiday