As an inflation is expected to give way to a recession in the coming year, consumers are expected to become more and more frugal with their money, including what they spend on entertainment. It’s become urgent for the entertainment industry to establish cheaper and even free ad-supported streaming services to offer its cash-strapped customers.
And the entertainment industry knows it: Disney and Netflix are both planning to offer ad-supported options in the near future, while Warner Bros. Discovery is developing its own free ad-supported TV (or FAST) service.
“There just isn’t an overwhelming urge among consumers to add more paid subscriptions to their monthly budgets, especially as we head into all this recession talk. And we know the demand for content is as great now as ever. So this sets up as an extremely favorable story for those involved in ads content creation, and delivery,” said Daniel Christman, SVP of Cross Platform Group at Screen Engine/ASI, during WrapPRO’s virtual panel Thursday, TheGrill: Focus on AVOD presented by FilmRise.
Moderated by TheWrap’s Brandon Katz, Christman was joined on the panel by industry experts Tejas Shah, SVP of Commercial Strategy & Analytics at FilmRise; Katina Papas Wachter, Head of Ad Revenue Strategy at Roku; and Alysha Dino, Senior Director of Publisher Development at Publica.
According to a report from Screen Engine/ASI and FilmRise provided exclusively to TheWrap, one in five consumers plan to add an additional streaming video on demand (SVOD) service in the next year while 79% report keeping or even reducing their current subscriptions.
But the adoption of advertising video on demand (or AVOD) services isn’t necessarily a new thing.
“The great shift to AVOD is a consumer trend that was always happening pre-pandemic,” said Dino. “Every household experienced a global lockdown, which naturally accelerated AVOD discovery. There are other variables to consider that we often don’t talk about, like the cost of living crisis. So price increases on everyday items, which will naturally have people looking for more affordable ad-supported streaming services or ad-lite SVOD services.”
Watch TheWrapPRO’s TheGrill panels on ad-supported streaming — “State of the Industry: The Rise of Ad-Supported Streaming,” and “Monetizing Opportunities in AVOD: Advertising, Analytics and Audience” — above.
TheGrill: Focus on AVOD is sponsored by FilmRise.
About TheGrill:
For over a decade, WrapPRO’s Grill event series has led the conversation on the convergence between entertainment, media and technology, bringing together newsmakers to debate the challenges and opportunities facing content in the digital age. TheGrill returns as a two-day event presented by WrapPRO beginning Tuesday, October 11, 2022. Fueled by an invite-only audience limited to C-Suite and high level attendees, TheGrill delivers a unique series of curated discussions, industry panels and virtual networking activations that explore an ever-changing media landscape. Learn more about TheGrill HERE.
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