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Recently, members have had access to Digiday’s third annual report on the state of ad-supported streaming services. We take an industry-level look at the top platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, MAX, Netflix, Peacock and all of the other key players.

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A guide to ad-supported streaming services, from the top platforms to marketing spend

By Catherine Wolf 

Streaming video continues to gain steam over linear TV, as Americans are tuning in to streaming platforms in record numbers. Streaming services accounted for 38.7% of total U.S. TV usage in July 2023, according to Nielsen — a new record high for the category. Just a year prior, streaming claimed the largest share of U.S. TV viewing for the first time. 

Meanwhile, cable and broadcast usage fell below 50% in July 2023 in terms of total share among U.S. viewers, Nielsen reported. Total broadcast viewing was down 3.6% to finish the month at 20% of TV, representing a new low. Cable viewing lost a full share point to capture 29.6% of TV usage in July.

What’s more, Americans have been adopting ad-supported streaming services at a faster rate than purely subscription-based options: The number of CTV households streaming ad-supported streaming services reached 83.7 million, a 17% increase from May 2021 to May 2023, while households streaming non-ad-supported services reached 81.1 million, a 9% increase, according to Comscore’s 2023 State of Streaming report.

“Even though streaming viewership continually increases, it is not cannibalizing linear but rather casting a wider net of fans for our advertisers to build authentic connections with,” said Alison Levin, president of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. “It provides an opportunity for all of our owned and operated platforms to work better together.”

In this, Digiday’s third 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 2023 ad budgets
• Which platforms are best equipped to handle advertisers’ various needs

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