Viewer Streaming Adoption and Viewing Time

• 98% of US consumers subscribe to at least one OTT streaming app. (Brightback Report 2021)
• 84% of respondents now pay for a SVOD service video-on-demand service (SVOD). (Deloitte)
  • The average household has four subscriptions (Deloitte)
• SVOD continues to rise year over year, but AVOD is the space where real growth occurred in late 2021 (40% in May 2021 to 64% in Dec. 2021). (Source: Magid’s Video Entertainment Pulse Study)

• The share of TV content viewers who rely solely on streaming continued its upward trajectory, with nearly 4 in 10 (37%) TV content viewers paying for an SVOD service, an increase from 30% in 2021. (Horowitz Research)

• Almost two-thirds (65%) of TV HHs stream on a smart TV at least monthly. (Source: Hub Entertainment Research, Connected Home Study)
• OTT streaming to TVs experienced a 115% increase between 2020 and 2021. (Conviva)
• During the first quarter of 2021, live streaming accounted for 24% OTT viewing globally. (Conviva)
• Almost 83% of OTT streaming hours in the USA are done using five apps; Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, Hulu and Disney+ (Comscore)

• Over half of all AVOD streaming time is spent on four services. (Source: Magid’s Video Entertainment Pulse Study)

• Internet users consume 38 hours of content each month, meaning that they devote almost a full work week to watching videos on mobile apps. (AppAnnie)
• Digital distribution of films accounted for 72% of the theatrical, home and mobile entertainment market in 2021 compared to 46% in pre-COVID 2019. (Motion Picture Association)
• The number of films debuting on a streaming service grew from 113 to 179, which original TV content also arose in 2021. (Motion Picture Association)

• The average household uses an average total of 12.5 entertainment sources including 3.1 big brand SVOD subscriptions, 1.3 streaming music sources and 1.1 free streaming TV services. (Hub Entertainment Research, Battle Royale Study, Wave 2 – Oct. 2022)

• The average number of TV sources per viewer averages 7.4 and includes MVPD, VMVPD, SVOD, DTC, AVOD, FASTs, OTA and transaction. (Hub Entertainment Research, Conquering Content Study – Oct. 2022)

Streaming Cost, Satisfaction and Value

• Three-quarters of U.S. consumers don’t want to pay more than $30 a month for streaming services. (The Trade Desk survey, Fox Business)
  • Moreover, 59% of consumers said they don’t want to pay more than $20 a month. (The Trade Desk survey, Fox Business)
• Consumers understand the trade-off between free and commercials as 81% of free streaming service subscribers and 69% of SVOD subs are willing to accept commercials/ads. (Source: Magid’s Video Entertainment Pulse Study)

• The cost of overall OTT ($75 avg monthly cost) is approaching the cost of the MVPD video ($91). (Horowitz Research)

• Fewer cord-cutters feel they are saving “a really good amount of money” (39%). (Horowitz Research)

• HBOMax and Disney+ were found to have the highest satisfaction among subscribers when it came to quality of their original series, library series and movies. Viewers also see Apple TV+ as having high quality original programming, but notice they are lacking when it comes to movies and library content. (Whip Media)

• There is a contrast in perceived value between HBO Max and Netflix despite them being similarly priced, and yet, HBO Max is considered the most satisfying value of all the services (85%) with Netflix as the lowest (62%). (Whip Media)

Market Size and Future Streaming Projections

• There are more than 300 OTT providers in the USA alone. (LemonLight)
• OTT TV and video subscriptions are expected to grow to 2 billion by 2025. (Juniper Research)
• U.S. to Add 104 million SVOD Subs by 2027 (Digital TV Research)

• Global SVOD subscriptions will increase by 491 million between 2021 and 2026 to reach 1.64 billion.
  • China and the US will together account for 49% of the global total by 2026, down from 56% in 2021. (Research and Markets)
• The number of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) viewers in the U.S. were estimated to rise by 17.6% year over year to nearly 128 million in 2021 (Insider Intelligence)
• By the end of 2021, free platforms (“FAST”) were expected to have 89.2 million monthly viewers in the U.S. (Insider Intelligence)

Media Revenue

• In 2021, revenue in the Video Streaming (SVoD) segment is projected to reach US$70.8 billion.
  • In global comparison, most revenue will be generated in the United States (US$32 billion in 2021). The average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Video Streaming (SVoD) segment is projected to amount to US$65.68 in 2021 (Statista)
• OTT media revenue is expected to reach more than $210 billion by 2026. (Statista)
• The global OTT market was worth $121.61 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach $1.039 trillion by 2027. (Allied Market Research)

• Streaming services account for 45% of ad views, overtaking TV Everywhere (TVE).
• 25% of OTT viewers are happy to watch up to 10 minutes of advertising if they don’t have to pay for a subscription. (OpenX)
• 66% of people who subscribe to OTT services have discovered a new product or service while streaming, making it obvious how effective OTT ads can be for businesses. (OpenX)
• Roku ad revenue reached $1.15 billion accounting for 46% of connected TV programmatic advertising spending (Statista)
• 36% of advertisers plan to invest more in virtual MVPDs (com)
• 42% of US agencies and marketing professionals expect to increase their ad spending on OTT platforms. (eMarketer)
• AVOD spending in the U.S. is set to surge in the next few years and surpass 24.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 as new services are released both domestically and internationally. (Statista)

• 98% of US consumers subscribe to at least one OTT streaming app. (Brightback Report 2021)
• OTT TV and video subscriptions are expected to grow to 2 billion by 2025. (Juniper Research)
  • 84% of respondents now pay for a SVOD service video-on-demand service (SVOD) with the average household having four subscriptions (Deloitte)
• The average TV content viewer uses about 7 services a month. (Horowitz Research)
• Latinx are much more likely to stream content (85%) compared to the total market (76%) seeking Spanish dominant (87%), bilingual (86%) and English oriented (84%) programming. (Horowitz Research FOCUS Latinx: State of Consumer Engagement 2022)
• The vMVPD market has flattened out with subscription to at least one vMVPD and access to at least one vMVPD decreasing since 2020. (Horowitz Research)

• The vMPVD market is also highly volatile with two-fifths (40%) of vMPVD subscribers subscribing for less than 6 months and 70% less than one year. In addition, 42% are very likely/likely to cancel in less than one year. (Horowitz Research)

• The top five SVOD services by the number of subscribers are (4Q 2021 Earnings Reports):
  • Netflix:  222 million subscribers
  • Amazon Prime Video:  200 million subscribers
  • Disney+:  118 million subscribers
  • HBO Max:  73.8 million subscribers
  • Hulu:  43.8 million subscribers
• Streaming consolidation is just the beginning with anticipated streaming mergers estimated to reach 198M streaming subscribers for Disney and Hulu, 92M for HBO Max and Discovery+, and 64M for Paramount+ and Showtime. (Variety, TechCrunch, The Hustle)

• Anticipated Streaming Mergers: (The Hustle)
  • In August, Warner Bros. Discovery announced a plan to merge HBO Max and Discovery+ into one service by summer 2023.
  • In September, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said he hopes to merge Disney+ with Hulu in 2024, when Disney can buy out Comcast’s interest in the service.
  • In October, the exit of Paramount Global exec David Nevins led analysts to speculate that Showtime could be absorbed into Paramount+ in short order.
• Latinx TV content viewers are more likely than the general market to use several SVOD services including Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+. (Horowitz Research FOCUS Latinx: State of Consumer Engagement 2022)

• At the end of 3Q 2021, Netflix led domestic streaming subscribers with 66.4M compared to 54M for Peacock, 41.7M for HBO Max and 39.7M for Hulu. (Source: LRG, 4Q 2021 Tracking Report)

• Disney+ saw the greatest increase in subscribers in the first three quarters of 2021, adding 23.2 million subscribers for a total of 118.1M subscribers worldwide; however, Netflix maintains the lead with 213.6M subscribers worldwide followed by Pluto TV (54.4M), ViacomCBS (46.7M) and Discovery+ (20M). (Source: LRG, 4Q 2021 Tracking Report)

• The top five AVOD services other than YouTube (TiVO Survey, Statista, 2Q 2021):
  • Facebook Watch: 18%
  • Roku Channel: 17%
  • Peacock (free with ads): 16%
  • Tubi TV: 16%
  • Pluto TV: 14%

• The majority (83%) of Latinx TV content viewers use SVOD services and almost six in ten use AVOD and media company DTC services. (Horowitz Research FOCUS Latinx: State of Consumer Engagement 2022)

• Specific content drives one-third of SVOD users to sign up. (The TV Switching Study, The NPD Group)
• 25% of viewers with no MVPD or a virtual MVPD subscription engage daily with SVOD. (The TV Switching Study, The NPD Group)
• 10% of viewers are likely to add an additional SVOD subscription in the next 6 months. (The TV Switching Study, The NPD Group)

• Led by Millennials and Gen Zs, 65% of respondents reported using free ad-supported video services. Some estimates see the ad market for free ad-supported video services doubling in the next two years. (Deloitte)
• Viewing on mobile devices is mostly at home, NOT on the go, as three-quarters of viewing on mobile devices occurs when viewers are at home. (Hub Entertainment Research, Video Redefined Study – Dec. 2022)

What is OTT?

“Over the top” (OTT) services refer to any type of video or streaming media that provides a viewer access to movies or TV shows by sending the media directly through the internet 

^{*Collins English Dictionary}

OTT Streaming Types and Examples

• SVOD = “subscription video-on-demand” in which a viewer sets up a monthly or yearly streaming subscription agreement for a flat monthly fee
• DTC = “direct-to-consumer” streaming service is when a network or streaming channel sells their service directly to the consumer bypassing retailers and wholesalers
• TVOD = “transactional video-on-demand”, which earn revenue via singular transactions “pay-per-view”
• AVOD = “advertising video-on-demand” services, which earn revenue from ads placed in streaming services
• FAST = “free ad-supported streaming TV services” are essentially live streaming services without the subscription and typically are an extension of traditional linear TV channels

^{*Please note that several streaming services can provide a hybrid model including subscription and advertising in their direct-to-consumer platforms.}

Former global Head of Strategy for Amazon Studios Matthew Ball forecasts the transitions facing media companies as new, OTT technologies, services and consumers have turned the tide of video streaming and steered the competitive direction of the industry. Discover how Amazon, AT&T, Comcast and more are going OTT to maximize consumer value and how the convergence of content and technology is expanding competition in media.

Part 1

Part 2

Peter Csathy: Rules of the Media Race are Changing

Peter Csathy, founder and chairman, CREATV Media grades the performance of the top streaming services like Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and others, and how media companies are breaking the bank for video libraries, IP and transformational technologies to grow scale and global reach.

Hub Entertainment Research: The Evolution of Video Branding

Hub Entertainment Research’s study The Evolution of Video Branding provides in-depth findings on consumers’ perception of the top streaming services and TV networks and how media companies compete for time and attention.

Tedd Cittadine: How Content Providers Grow Their Audiences on Roku

Tedd Cittadine, VP, Content Partnerships, Roku Inc. discusses the growth opportunities that the CTV platform, Roku offers both AVOD and SVOD services and success stories of user acquisition, customer retention, brand marketing, advertising, ad technology and more.