The battle for streaming dominance continues to intensify as platforms vie for exclusive content. Many new shows fail to recoup costs and there’s an increasing propensity towards subscriber churn making the stakes for content investment critical. Increasingly, video entertainment is being shaped by a few leading subscription video on-demand (SVOD) services, social video platforms, and hyper-scale technology companies. 

Streaming services are investing heavily in original content to attract and retain subscribers

This investment however poses challenges as it comes with high production costs and more risks. To succeed, companies must: 

• create high-quality, engaging content that resonates with their target audiences 

• develop effective marketing strategies to promote their content and reduce subscriber churn 

• facilitate partnerships and collaborations with content creators and other companies to diversify content offerings and reach new audiences. 

Netflix is the top investor in global streaming content and is reported to be moving into video podcasting, offering new ways for advertisers to reach their subscriber base. Amazon and Walmart are heavily investing in shoppable TV experiences. And YouTube introduced an enhanced shoppable CTV offering with new interactive product feed acting as a shop front. A recent study found most CTV viewers say they use their mobile phones to make a purchase after seeing a TV ad, and three in five (60%) would save their shipping and payment details on their TV for quick checkout. 

Ad-supported tiers are booming, but be mindful of the user experience 

As subscription fatigue sets in and streaming prices rise, ad-supported tiers are booming on SVOD services. In 2022, Netflix and Disney+ added an ad-supported tier to their streaming services, while the following year, YouTube introduced a 30-second non-skippable ad option for CTV to attract advertisers. Today, 54% of SVOD subscribers in the U.S. had at least one ad-supported tier of a paid service in 2024, up from 46% in 2023. And while ad-supported tiers help reduce costs for viewers while growing revenue for publishers, as more people subscribe to multiple platforms, the increasing costs can lead to cancellations or subscription ‘churn’ with 35% of Americans say they either canceled or considered canceling a streaming subscription in the past year. 

As advertisers demand measurable ROI, and publishers struggle to prove cross-platform ad effectiveness requires a careful balance between ad load and user experience. Advanced targeting and personalization technologies can help achieve this balance, ensuring that ads are tailored to individual preferences and interests. The success of ad-supported models depends on the ability to deliver relevant and non-intrusive ads that enhance the viewing

experience. Advanced targeting and personalisation technologies can help achieve this balance, ensuring that ads are tailored to individual preferences and interests. A study found that keeping a streamer’s attention during an ad remains a challenge, with only one-third of viewers admitting they like seeing ads for products they’ve already searched for. If you can keep their attention, ad effectiveness is the next challenge. Free ad-supported streaming (FAST) is also on the rise boasting unskippable ad breaks. When viewers watch on-demand using a free AVOD service, they make a concerted effort to navigate to the exact content they want to see leading towards more active and engaged viewing. 

We’re building a seamless, adaptive, always-on media ecosystem  

At Circana, we envision a media ecosystem where businesses collaborate with us to align consumer behavior intelligence with purposeful media plans. This involves closing the loop between media exposure and tangible sales results. By introducing real-time data integrations, we can anticipate changes in consumer behavior and act proactively rather than reactively. This brings efficiency and effectiveness to the forefront, activating campaigns in real time and meeting consumers at every stage of their experience. Circana’s verified data, intelligent automation and AI-powered insights are now critical tools for future-proofing strategies and budgets - learn more in the Circana Future of Media Outlook Report.