AD MARKET CONTINUES TO EXPAND

The U.S. ad market has entered its second year of growth, as April was the 13^th consecutive month of expansion. April 2024 media spending exceeded April 2023 by just over 9%, indicating that the marketplace is in an expansion period. The overall increase comes primarily from smaller sectors. The top 10 categories posted a more modest 4.6% growth, while all others averaged 15.5%. (MediaPost: May 28, 2024)

WHICH PLATFORMS BENEFIT FROM BUNDLES?

The era of streaming bundles has arrived, with Disney’s Hulu and WBD’s Max teaming up for a combined offering.  This surely isn’t the last time we’ll see competitors teaming up like this, and it begs the question: Which services benefit most from such an arrangement?  Bundles help to mitigate the risk of trying something new, and a recent study from Antenna indicates that Max has the most to gain.  The study focuses on “curious” subscribers—those who have cancelled a service in the past or have been subscribers for less than six months.  Max scores the highest curiosity, with 72% of respondents.  Apple TV+ has the second-highest percentage, at 68%; Hulu, Peacock, Paramount, and Disney+ follow.  Who would benefit least from bundling?  Netflix, with which consumers are already very familiar (just 33% of respondents identified as curious).  (MediaPost: May 29, 2024)

WHEN DOES 500 = 5 MILLION?

Relax, it’s not New Math.  It’s the performance of last weekend’s Indy 500.  Preliminary figures put average linear and streaming viewership at 5.34 million, with a peak of 6.46 million.  This is the best it’s done in three years; 8% higher than last year, and 10% more than 2022.  It was also the most streamed IndyCar race in history, with an average per-minute audience of 286k viewers watching Peacock and NBC Sports’ digital platforms.  Tune-in was likely boosted by a four-hour weather delay.  The race finally started at 4:45pm Eastern, when viewership is typically higher.  (Deadline: May 27, 2024)

IT’S NOT THE ADS… IT’S THE AD EXPERIENCE

In previous issues of this newsletter, we shared some studies showing that viewers are receptive to ad-supported streaming, especially if it comes with a lower subscription cost.  A recent report from Comcast’s FreeWheel digs a little deeper into this, and what they’ve found makes a lot of sense.  Viewers don’t dislike ads generally—it’s a bad ad experience that turns them off.  Issues like ad latency (that little buffering time before the commercial starts), unnaturally placed breaks, and sloppy errors like visible slates at the start of some ads negatively affect viewer perception.  In the case of FAST channels, unsold avails result in on-screen “We’ll be back in X:XX” timers that can bore and frustrate viewers.  How can platforms avoid this?  Faster servers, advanced AI tools to find optimal places for commercial breaks, and closer attention to details like formatting.  (NextTV: May 29, 2024)

THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY

May 30, 2005 – Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen debuts, and American viewers are introduced to the calm, nurturing presence of Britain’s Chef Gordon Ramsay.  The cooking competition show ended its 22^nd season in January and has been renewed for at least two more.  Are we ready for more episodes of a high-strung man screaming about soggy beef Wellington and rubbery scallops coming late to the pass?  YES CHEF!!