MoffettNathanson Research, the digital TV-video segment is also feeling the effects of a drastically weaker scatter TV market. Michael Nathanson, senior research analyst and co-founder, MoffettNathanson Research says the overall dollar increase in 2022 will be 1 billion smaller “$2 billion this year, versus $3 billion in 2021.”
The TV market and audiences for streaming and TV, in general, have apparently (and not so surprisingly) changed since the world has re-opened post-pandemic lockdowns. Without a virtually captive audience, it is more difficult to capture eyeballs and in a related issue advertising dollars.
Narhanson added that “Brand advertising, which has a harder to prove ROI [return on investment] than performance advertising, also tends to be cut sooner beyond what is locked in during the upfronts, further working against the AVOD market. As such, over the past year, we revised down our AVOD growth estimate more than any other medium.”
This is not to say that AVOD or “FASTS” are not doing well, especially some of the higher-profile ones. NBCUniversal’s Peacock, is up 81% to $291 million; Fox Corp’s Tubi, notching a 30% rise to $165 million, and Roku Channel adding 24% to $235 million.
While it is not as simple as putting an app out and collecting more and more money over time, the world of ad-supported free streaming is very much seen as the future of TV as companies look to monetize otherwise underutilized content across their catalogs.
