NEW YORK—The amount of time consumers have spent streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to positive growth for AVOD (ad-supported video on-demand) services, which have solidified their position in the streaming landscape.
AVOD—otherwise known as FAST or CTV—provides free streaming services to consumers because they are ad-supported. This is beneficial for consumers who either are already paying for multiple subscription services, or are cash-strapped because of the impact of the pandemic, Nielsen says.
Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon and Disney+ are the major streamers in the market, but “other” players, as Nielsen identifies them, account for 23% of time spent streaming; this includes AVOD services. Viewers spent more than 12 billion more minutes watching “other” content in Q2 2020 over Q2 2019.
Even as COVID-19-related restrictions ease and there is summer weather, streaming numbers are not receding to their pre-COVID levels. Americans watched more than 142 billion minutes of streaming video during Q2 2020, more than 60 million more than in Q2 2019. Meanwhile, traditional media consumption—liner TV and AM/FM radio—are back to their seasonally normalized levels.
PLUS: OTT Market to Reach $167B by 2025
Nielsen finds that one-fourth of streaming-capable homes’ time with the TV is spent streaming, which includes growth among the 55-and-over age group.
“As video streaming continues to secure its foothold with American viewers, ad-supported video couldn’t be better positioned to capitalize,” the Nielsen report concludes.
For more information, the full Nielsen report is available on www.nielsen.com.
