According to a recent study, advertisements are poised to account for nearly a third of streaming services’ revenue in the coming years, making them an increasingly attractive offering for content providers and consumers alike.
Ten years ago, it seemed as though television was poised to take a truly groundbreaking leap forward. Prior to Netflix’s dominance, traditional streaming providers coexisted with a diverse array of popular TV shows that didn’t meet their demise solely due to arbitrary metrics or spreadsheet dictates. As we currently find ourselves, despite streaming services becoming increasingly less accessible than before, they’re also more expensive than ever, with major players frequently hiking prices to compensate for the fact that too few new users are signing up.
Netflix and its peers have attempted to re-engage lapsed subscribers or attract new ones by introducing a more affordable option featuring ads. “Cheaper,” in quotes, since you’re primarily paying what you likely did for Netflix just a few years ago – simply now, you’ll be able to only watch it from one home, the video quality isn’t as good, and, like cable, you’ve got ads. And it actually looks as if these ad-supported tiers are the way forward for streaming providers, as in a World Leisure & Media Outlook 2024-2028 examine held by PricewaterhouseCoopers (by way of Selection), it predicted that by 2028 “promoting will make up virtually 28% of all the cash that streaming providers make.”
In 2023, an impressive 20% of the total streaming revenue came from advertising sales, marking a significant leap forward. According to the report, growth in income from 2023 to 2028 is unlikely to be substantial, a trend attributed to consumers being increasingly overwhelmed by the proliferation of streaming services. Corporations are responding by offering discounted subscription rates in exchange for displaying advertisements.
The lack of transparency in subscription models is particularly galling for those who actively despise advertising; it seems inevitable that this approach will become increasingly common in the market. Isn’t that a relief – it’s satellite TV instead.
