{"id":836018,"date":"2025-03-22T17:12:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T22:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/22\/digiday-research-how-ad-supported-streaming-services-stack-up-for-marketers-from-amazon-to-youtube\/"},"modified":"2025-03-22T17:12:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T22:12:45","slug":"digiday-research-how-ad-supported-streaming-services-stack-up-for-marketers-from-amazon-to-youtube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/22\/digiday-research-how-ad-supported-streaming-services-stack-up-for-marketers-from-amazon-to-youtube\/","title":{"rendered":"Digiday+ Research: How ad-supported streaming services stack up for marketers, from Amazon to YouTube"},"content":{"rendered":"

This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It\u2019s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the first installment of a two-part series on the top ad-supported streaming services. This initial report provides an overview of the various platforms\u2019 offerings, including pricing and plans, ad options and ad innovations, as well as an analysis of the platforms where brands and agencies distributed the bulk of their 2024 ad budgets and ad placements.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The second installment will dive deep into the results of Digiday\u2019s recent survey of brands and agencies to analyze how advertisers measure campaign success on the platforms and the challenges they face when placing ads on ad-supported streaming services.<\/em><\/p>\n

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There doesn\u2019t seem to be any stopping streaming video\u2019s popularity, as streaming services continue to rival linear TV for audience share. Streaming services accounted for 40.3% of total U.S. TV usage in June 2024, according to Nielsen<\/a> \u2014 a new record high for the category. That\u2019s up from 38.7% in July 2023<\/a> and 38.4% in July 2022<\/a>, when streaming claimed the largest share of U.S. TV viewing for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a shift happening in how and where viewers seek out and consume content,\u201d YouTube\u2019s managing director of U.S. video deals and creative works Brian Albert said in an email. \u201cStreaming households are overtaking pay TV households for the first time in the U.S., and outpacing linear TV growth across the globe. Much like the shifts from desktop to mobile \u2014 and now to CTV \u2014 viewers are driving this massive shift \u2014 streaming what they want, when they want.\u201c<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, cable and broadcast usage remained below 50% for the second year in a row in terms of total share among U.S. viewers, according to Nielsen. The broadcast category lost 1.8 share points in June versus the prior month and cable fell by 1 point, bringing the two to a combined 47.7% of overall TV in June 2024.<\/p>\n

While the U.S. video streaming market is seemingly saturated, reaching 96% of U.S. households and growing only 1% quarter over quarter as of Q2 2024, according to Kantar\u2019s Worldpanel Entertainment on Demand<\/a> report, ad-supported video services are still driving growth in U.S. video streaming. Paid and free ad-supported streaming grew by roughly 6% in the second quarter of 2024, adding 3.8 million net users, while paid, ad-free streaming shrank its user base by -0.6%, according to Kantar.<\/p>\n

Roku\u2019s vp of ad marketing and measurement Sarah Harms said ad-supported streaming services appeal to both viewers and brands. \u201cWe certainly think streaming provides great consumer benefits, but also great advertiser benefits of greater addressability, greater accountability, and so we love that trend,\u201d Harms said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll see that trend continue, and we\u2019re here for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking note of consumers\u2019 increased interest in ad-supported streaming services, demand-side platform The Trade Desk is poised to be the next entrant into the streaming wars. In November 2024, The Trade Desk announced that it\u2019s building a CTV operating system<\/a> called Ventura, which will give it direct control over the streaming TV experience and take a cut of the CTV platform market away from household names like Amazon, Roku and Samsung.<\/p>\n

Bearing this increasing competition in mind, Digiday\u2019s fourth annual report on the state of ad-supported streaming services presents an industry-level look at the top ad-supported streaming platforms to assess:<\/p>\n