Discover current video streaming trends, consumer behaviors, and competition amongst AVOD, SVOD and FAST services to uncover what might come next in the video streaming battleground.
The Video Streaming Battleground: OTT Subscription Examples


Consumer Streaming Adoption and Behavior
Viewer Streaming Adoption
- Across 22 major providers, there are more than 1,500 FAST channels providing content to over 190 million users. (tubi + FOX, 2023)
- 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)
- OTT subscription services are present in 89% of US homes with broadband, and 44% of those households have people in them who watch pay TV with another 63% having smart TV sets. (Park Associates, 2022)
- Six out of seven (86%) U.S. households have at least one streaming video service from fifteen top subscription Video On-Demand and direct-to-consumer (DTC) services. (Leichtman Research Group, 2023).
- Half (50%) of households have four or more DTC streaming video services. (Leichtman Research Group, 2023)
- The average consumer subscribes to 2.8 streaming TV services and 10% pay for more than five streaming services simultaneously. (Forbes Home, 2023)
- Average DTC Streaming Services by Age (Leichtman Research Group, 2023)
- A18-44: 4.8
- A45-54: 4.0
- A55+: 2.5
- The average TV content viewer uses about 7 services a month. (Horowitz Research)
- Over half of all AVOD streaming time is spent on four services – – Peacock, Roku, Pluto and Tubi. (Source: Magid’s Video Entertainment Pulse Study)
- Netflix was the most popular streaming service with 52% subscribing followed by Amazon Prime (10%), HBO Max (7%), Apple TV (7%) and YouTube TV (7%). (Forbes Home, 2023)
- Among younger audiences under 35 years, Hulu is the most popular streaming service with 58% of mobile downloaders. (Pathmatics, 2022)
Streaming Growth and Churn
- There are more than 300 OTT providers in the USA alone. (LemonLight)
- There were 226 million CTV streamers in 2022 which is expected to grow to 242 million by 2026. (Source: eMarketer, 2022)
- U.S. to Add 104 million SVOD Subs by 2027 (Digital TV Research)
- 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)
- Streaming subscriptions are growing with those who only stream growing from 14% in 2020 to 37% in 2022. (Horowitz, 2022)
- However, 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)
- 35% of respondents say they would cancel Netflix over higher prices or password sharing crackdown translating into a loss of approximately 80 million subscribers. (Forbes Home, 2023)
- About 25% respondents say they would cancel any streaming service subscription if they cracked down on password sharing or over higher prices. (Forbes Home, 2023)
Streaming Behavior & Spend
- Three out of four (75%) of SVOD users are satisfied with their TV services. (MarketCast)
- Streamers used 15% more services and watched 27% more total hours of entertainment in 2022. (Comscore, State of Streaming)
- The big screen (CTV – Connected TV) is now the primary way audiences consume streaming content. (Source: Comscore, State of Streaming)
- Almost two-thirds (65%) of TV HHs stream on a smart TV at least monthly. (Source: Hub Entertainment Research, Connected Home Study)
- 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)
- 81% of SVOD streamers pick services based on cost with 40% of AVOD streamers citing low fees as a key benefit to AVOD. (Variety Intelligence Report and MRI, 2022)
- Nearly half (47%) of respondents pay for streaming services they don’t use. (Forbes Home, 2023)
- Only a small fraction (4%) ever review how much they’re spending on streaming services and half say they forgot to cancel a service after the offer of a free limited time subscription expired. (Forbes Home, 2023)
- Nearly 1 in 3 streamers plan to cut back spending on subscription services. (Magid, 2022)
- A quarter of U.S. adults wait for streaming originals’ finale before starting, citing the following as reasons: (YouGov. 2023)
- A preference for binge-watching shows: 48%
- Fears over the show’s potential cancellation with an unresolved ending: 27%
- They do not want to wait for the next season after a cliffhanger: 24%
- 57% of subscribers signed up with a service to watch just one show, and more than half considered the opportunity to binge watch one show worth the price. (Forbes Home, 2023)
- Over one-quarter (27%) of streaming video services are shared and 12% of them are fully paid for by someone outside the household. (Leichtman Research Group, 2023)
- The cost of overall OTT ($75 avg monthly cost) is approaching the cost of the MVPD video ($91). (Horowitz Research)
- 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)
- 88% of AVOD streamers like streaming services with fewer ads. (MRI, 2022)
- 62% of AVOD & SVOD streamers prefer a standard video ad format. (tubi + FOX, 2023)
- 51% of streamers are satisfied with 6 minutes of ads per hour. (tubi+FOX, 2023)
- Streaming audiences expect superior streaming quality with 22% of younger streamers saying they’ll abandon a show or movie if playback or buffering issues occur, stopping more users from streaming than ads (17%). (tube+ FOX, 2023)
- Fewer cord-cutters feel they are saving “a really good amount of money” (39%). (Horowitz Research)
Streaming Among Latinx Audiences
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
Ad Spending on Streaming Platforms
- By 2025, 76% of subscription streaming services that don’t currently have ad-based options will introduce them with 59% planning to implement a hybrid model in order to lower the price of subscriptions. (NPAW, 2023)
- The average quarterly OTT ad spending was $3.26B accounting for nearly 15% of total digital ad spending in the U.S. (Pathmatics, 2022)
- The average quarterly OTT ad impressions was 121B. (Pathmatics, 2022)
- 14.8% of total digital ad spending was through OTT (Pathmatics, 2022)
- From 2020 to 2022, the streaming ad spend market is projected to have more than doubled. (Solomon Partners’ Media Group, 2022)
- It’s estimated that 33% will stream free AVOD by 2024 and 50% will stream free or paid AOVD by 2026. (eMarketer, 2022)
- FAST (free ad-supporting streaming TV) ad spend is projected to surpass that of cable, broadcast or SVOD services in ad spend by 2025. (TVREV, 2023)
- FAST will account for 68% of ad spending by 2027, or $69B of $101B. (TVREV, 2023)
- CTV ad spend grew 33% from $14.2 billion to $18.9 billion in 2022. (Source: eMarketer, 2022)
- Upfront CTV ad spending rose 34.6% to $6.41B in the U.S. in 2022, which was what was spent on CTV in its entirety three years ago. (eMarketer, 2022)
- For the first time, CTV accounted for more than two-thirds of U.S. upfront digital advertising spending in 2022. (eMarketer, 2022)
- Pluto TV was most popular streaming service for sports advertising with Hulu being so for arts and entertainment, and Hulu for dating. (Pathmatics, 2022)
- The Financial Services category was among the top categories by U.S. OTT Ad spending across streaming services. (Pathmatics, 2022)
Streaming Types and Definitions
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.
Streaming Resources
Webcasts, Reports and Podcasts
CTAM Wired Webcast: FAST – Eroding Pay TV Engagement
There are two critical inflection points: when viewers discover free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) and when they start using it daily. Both SVOD and TVOD engagement grows among these hyper users, but their linear TV viewership declines requiring a strategy shift. Discover the data behind these trends with examples of how to leverage FAST distribution to promote programming and increase content licensing revenue.
CTAM Wired Webcast – Culture, Content, and Competition: The Latest on the Latinx Video Market
Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month, realize the power of cultural currency from the latest data and insights on the highly competitive market for video services among U.S. Latinx audiences. Discover which services are used the most and how streaming is impacting usage of and subscriptions to traditional MVPDs, as well as understand U.S. Latinx audiences’ content needs and how they feel about representation and inclusion in content and advertising.
The Stream: 2023 Audience Insights for Brands
tubi + FOX
Discover how Ad-Supported Video on Demand (AVOD) has become a part of the TV landscape and how the future of television is rapidly changing with consumer demand for how and what they want to watch. This report explores the options outside traditional pay-TV and the future outlook on ad-supported streaming.
The State of OTT Advertising in the U.S.
The accessibility and originality of over-the-top (OTT) content has become one of the many reasons for its popularity among consumers. Brands have seen the value of ad placements on these streaming platforms changing the OTT ad spend landscape. Discover the top OTT ad spending trends, analysis and advertisers in this OTT space.

Video Streaming Trends in the Era of “Peak Media”
Discover how media companies are finding success connecting with elusive audience segments to find new customers and manage churn volatility in the new streaming era with Universal Focus founder and Turner Broadcasting alum, NYU Stern Professor Paul Hardart.

The Three Waves of Media Competition
Former head of global strategy at Amazon Video, Matthew Ball, discusses the wave of competition in media and asserts a shift toward using video to sell other things as the streaming “war” is mostly won through synergies and monetization elsewhere by monopolizing a consumer’s free time, spend and data.

The State of Pay-TV, SVOD, & OTT
(Horowitz Research)
Explore implications for the pay-TV business as viewing households sample various video subscription options and gain the latest insights revealing the impact that MVPD and OTT ecosystems have on subscriber satisfaction, viewing behaviors, and future plans.
Thinking Out Loud Episodes
Michael Wright: Succeeding in a Ruthlessly Competitive Business
What does it take to succeed in an over-saturated streaming world? According to guest Michael Wright, head of MGM+, it’s focusing on quantity, quality, and value. Michael asserts today’s sophisticated audience determines within five minutes whether they will keep a subscription after the free trial by quickly assessing three important things. Host Vicki Lins and guest Michael Wright discuss chasing people over profit, their recent acquisition by Amazon, and how Amazon’s resources and enthusiasm will guide awareness and subscriber growth.
Rebecca Glashow: Navigating The Steaming Wars With A New, Collaborative Roadmap
As the Streaming Wars evolved, we witnessed business models pull apart, sending parties to their respective corners, all trying to figure out what’s next. It became clear global scale is necessary to stay competitive, making co-productions a priority. Host Vicki Lins and guest Rebecca Glashow, CEO of Global Distribution for BBC Studios, discuss several topics including how through co-productions and partnerships, we are witnessing a resurgence of competitors also being colleagues, where working together can benefit individual businesses.
Redbox streaming into digital with 40 million loyal customers
For 20-years, Redbox has built a deep relationship with its 40 million customers. Their unique customer base, known for being late adopters of technology and 71% of them identifying as deal hunters, is devotedly following Redbox into a new world filled with endless entertainment options. In this conversation, host Vicki Lins explores how Redbox is almost effortlessly taking its customer base on a pilgrimage into the digital world. Galen Smith, CEO, Redbox, explains how their simplified, seamless process helps these late adopters shift to new offerings by the latest movies On Demand, free live TV channels, add supported On Demand and subscription channels all in one place.
David Smyth, Founder and CEO, YouLook: Not so FAST, AVOD’s Global Rise
As VOD consumption grows globally, media companies and entrepreneurs are recognizing a shift to AVOD allows content to reach a highly engaged audience, connecting both viewers and advertisers with a model that delivers more relevant ads and a better customer experience. David expands on his background as a TV executive at Sky Media and 20th Century Fox, his entrepreneurial vision for YouLook.tv, and shares insights about the market dynamics happening across the pond and how he intends to scale the business for long term success.
The Waves of Competition in Media
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.