AVOD

SVOD, AVOD, FAST: How “Old” TV Behaviors are Getting New Life in the World of Streaming TV

• Posted: June 6, 2023

Jon Giegengack of Hub Entertainment and Wayne Goldstein of Sony Pictures uncovered facets of streaming that display a potential pendulum shift toward more familiar aspects of linear TV. For instance, consumers now want content aggregation and a bundling option to help find content across different platforms. This need for simplicity of use extends to the rise of smart TVs, lessening the number of remotes to manage or buttons to push. TV advertising has entered streaming in a big way. In an age of bingeability, appointment TV has also cropped up. Another adoption from linear, FAST is featuring more programs that help us enjoy our downtime, where we can retreat from the day, lean back and unwind, as opposed to the immersive programming that’s been a stalwart of streaming.

Latest Trends in Viewing Behaviors

• Posted: June 6, 2023

Brian Fuhrer of Nielsen outlined trends in “the streamosphere.” Not only has streaming grown tremendously, but there has also been great fragmentation driven by a proliferation of new platforms. Viewing on different platforms changes from month-to-month, depending on what highly anticipated show is coming out. While streaming service providers seem to be able to grab viewers, they wrestle with keeping them. FAST platforms are growing rapidly as older demographics and more diverse audiences flock to them. Certainly, for any streaming platform, adding more diverse content can drive usage and broaden the base. He also talked about the “summer of streaming.” Platforms drop lots of popular content during the summer months—when the networks see a lull, causing a spike in viewership.

Video Now: The Evolution of the Viewing Landscape

• Posted: June 6, 2023

Tracey Chen of Warner Bros. Discovery walked the audience through the details of their 10-year Video Now study. On demand usage has become universal from baby boomers to Gen Z, while linear TV continues to decline year-over-year with each age group. This is especially true among younger and multicultural audiences. Time spent on SVOD doubled in 2021 while linear TV declined from 20% to 12% in the same period. Now, consumers’ willingness to pay for subscriptions is cooling, allowing AVOD and FAST services to flourish. Fifty percent of consumers have used a FAST service. Roku is the most popular while Tubi saw the biggest year-on-year growth.

OTT 2022: Welcome

• Posted: June 6, 2023

Tania Missad of Warner Bros. Discovery introduced the audience to their Video Now study, a 10-year project investigating the evolution of the viewing landscape, which includes the growth of streaming and further erosion of linear TV. The study found that people are now less willing to spend on streaming apps and other options due to frustration with rising costs. They also feel overwhelmed by the number of services. This is causing low and no cost options such as AVOD and FAST to flourish. Besides cost savings, viewers like that AVOD and FAST have large libraries of content to explore. What consumers want now is bundling discounts, improved content discovery including aggregating desirable content across different apps and more personalized recommendations. There’s also a growing interest in more diverse stories and international content.

OTT 2022: Conference Highlights

• Posted: June 6, 2023

On October 25, 2022, media and measurement experts shared the latest research-based insights about today’s media landscape at OTT 2022 held on the Warner Bros. Discovery Studio Lot in Burbank, CA. Attendees learned more about what viewers really want when it comes to FAST, AVOD and SVOD, and whether there are viable solutions for cross-platform measurement.

Ten Things to Know about Viewing

• Posted: June 1, 2023

Yes, there is upheaval in the media industry. The press paints a dire picture of viewing, yet Radha Subramanyam (CBS), focuses on growth. Total viewing is up 2% year over year, broadcast share of total viewing up 2%. CBS viewing also is up 2% year over year—across entertainment, news and sports, 8-10 shows averaging over 10 million viewers nightly. When it comes to reach and “unique,” it’s an even bigger number in streaming, particularly entertainment. There’s great momentum in sports and women in sports.

The New State of TV

• Posted: June 1, 2023

Fifty years ago, defining TV was pretty simple but the video landscape has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Video is growing today, and this is driven by CTV. TV formats have their own personalities and content to define them. TV should not be approached in isolation because that is not how consumers approach it.

If an Ad Plays When the TV is Off, Did Anyone See It?

• Posted: May 31, 2023

Mike Fisher of GroupM shared findings from an eye-opening study conducted with iSpot.tv, investigating continuous play scenarios. It revealed a viewability issue with external, third-party, streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV and gaming consoles Xbox and PlayStation. Such devices make the verification of ad delivery via TV apps more difficult. While such a device may signal that an ad was delivered, the TV screen itself may be off. Since external devices and the TVs they are attached to do not talk to each other, and so the message is lost. Fisher urged this as an industry-wide issue that multiple parties: manufacturers, publishers, agencies and advertisers, need to come together to fix.

DASH: Building a New Standard in TV

• Posted: May 30, 2023

In 2021, the ARF launched DASH in response to today’s overwhelming complexity in measurement due to the digitization of TV, which has made user-level data especially challenging. In this panel discussion, the speakers provide an overview of DASH, including its methodology, use cases, key findings and opportunities. DASH has evolved to set a new standard in the media industry and serves as a perfect example of how cross-industry collaborations can happen.

JIC: Coalescing Around Standards for Cross-Platform Currencies

• Posted: May 24, 2023

Brittany Slattery (OpenAP), who opened this discussion, explained that the new JIC was created by national programmers and media agencies for three main purposes: (1) To bring buyers and sellers to the table with equal voices; (2) To create baseline requirements for cross-platform measurement solutions and (3) To create a harmonized census-level streaming service data set across all of the programmers in the JIC. Fox, NBCU, Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery are all JIC members, as are Dentsu, Group M, IPG Mediabrands, OMG and Publicis. The members hope to foster competition among multiple ad video measurement currencies. After her introduction, Danielle DeLauro (VAB) moderated a discussion with the representatives of three networks and Group M.