A new report from Digital TV Research predicts that revenues for ad-supported video-on demand worldwide will reach $70 billion by 2027, more than double the $33 billion revenues logged in 2921. Of the 138 countries covered in the survey, 13 will generate more than $1 billion by 2027, compared to only five countries in 2021.
The five top countries in order of predicted revenues include: U.S., China, U.K., Japan, and India.
The report reflects recent trends among the world's largest streaming services that have announced plans to launch ad-supported tiers. Disney+, which has been focusing on developing its own ad technology, announced in March that it was going to introduce ads in an effort to squeeze out more revenues per subscriber and Netflix, in response to sagging subscription numbers, also announced its plans for an ad-supported tier last month.
Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “U.S. AVOD will grow by $19 billion to $31 billion by 2027—remaining the largest country by far. The US has the world’s most sophisticated advertising industry by some distance, plus AVOD choice is greater in the U.S. than anywhere else. The U.S. will account for 46% of the global total by 2027, up from 39% in 2021.”
Second-placed China slumped in 2020 due to its economic downturn and it will take until 2024 for China to better its 2019 total, the report noted. In 2021, the government clamped down on fan-based culture, which resulted in far fewer reality shows from the OTT platforms—and less viewer demand.
