Netflix and Disney+’s move into the advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) business may actually wind up ceding power to another segment of the streaming industry. The platforms that house and distribute these streamers — such as Roku, Samsung TVs, Google TVs and Amazon Fire devices — will not only gain revenue and precious viewership data, but a long-term leverage in future negotiations with the streamer.
“AVOD and FAST [free ad-supported streaming TV] will eventually generate tens of billions in revenue annually in the U.S.,” said Jon Cohen, SVP of Frequency, a provider of ad-supported content packaging distribution. “But the new gatekeepers are the platforms themselves.