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This week on Inside the Stream, Colin and I discuss Comscore’s 7th annual State of Streaming report, which was just released. For CTV homes, Netflix leads with 74% reach, followed by YouTube, with 71%, though YouTube has 47 hours of viewing time per month, compared with 35 hours for Netflix. Despite billions of dollars of content and branding investments, broadcasters’ SVOD services lag in both...
Four topics for this week’s podcast:
Last week IAB released its new 2024 advertising outlook report based on a survey of media professionals. CTV advertising was at the top of expected gains, revised upward from a 14.5% lift vs. 2023 in IAB’s prior report to 18.4% now. It’s another positive sign for CTV ads and we discuss how big a role political ad spending is playing.
Next up, Comcast’s...
This week we interview Roku’s Head of Ad Marketing Jordan Rost and MAGNA’s EVP, Intelligence Solutions Kara Manatt, about their companies’ new research - "From Power On to Power Off" - about viewers’ content discovery journeys and the role of CTV Home Screen advertising. A key takeaway of the research is that almost half (44%) of streaming sessions begin with the viewer browsing, rather than...
FASTs are everywhere these days, and this week we discuss several new announcements/launches that caught our eye, from providers including TCL, Fire TV Channels, Google TV and Cox Media Group (with “Neighborhood TV”). We discuss the prospects for each of them, and why the trend toward more FAST launches is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
Listen to the podcast to learn more (28 minutes,...
This week on Inside the Stream, we start with MS NOW’s plan to evolve into a streaming and community hub for progressive activism. Given cord-cutting and the decline of linear TV news consumption by younger viewers, we see it as a positive move. Next, we discuss why data indicates engagement with Prime Video is far lower than other streaming services. Finally, microdramas continue their growth...
New data from Looper Insights illustrates how meaningful percentages of both video executives and viewers now see YouTube as an appealing destination for long-form content, including for premium content - as well as a viable alternative to major streaming platforms. The data underscores YouTube’s amazing evolution from a primarily UGC, short-form outlet to a genuine competitor for premium...
Walmart has closed its $2.3 billion acquisition of VIZIO. As Colin and I discuss on this week’s podcast, there are many opportunities that the deal creates. We focus on a few, including Walmart extending WatchFree+, driving new CTV ad revenue and also broadening the availability of one-click buying and attribution.
Listen to the podcast to learn more (26 minutes, 14 seconds)
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Last weekend Disney blacked out all of its networks on DIRECTV as the carriage agreement between the two companies expired without a new one being reached. These types of disputes are common in the pay-TV industry, and there’s always a lot of jawboning and finger-pointing, making it difficult to understand the exact proposals and counter-proposals.
What seems indisputable is that Disney is...
New research from Inscape analyzing the viewing behavior of 23 million opted-in VIZIO smart TV owners reveals streaming’s ascendance. In Q1 ’24, fully 58% of these viewers only streamed content, up 3 percentage points since Q4 ’23. 38% watched both streaming and pay-TV (cable, satellite and OTA), and just 3% only watched pay-TV. The streaming-only group has increased from 45% in Q4 ’21. We...
As has been promised for a while, Hulu has been integrated into Disney+ in a bid to present more content seamlessly to viewers. No doubt the move was a significant undertaking, yet Colin’s early review shows a few key UX features lagging, notably his viewing history. We expect that in time these will be updated.
Elsewhere at Disney, ESPN has taken initial steps toward being a sports hub by...