Revealing Video Marketplace Trends in FreeWheel's 1H23 Report

According to Bridget Greaney Consultant at Comcastowned FreeWheel the basis of the analysis is derived from one of the largest data sets available on rightsmanaged ad supported video content coming from the FreeWheel platform on premium video for 1H23 compared to 1H22 This yielded key takeaways for the industry According to Greaney quotWe39re seeing a shift toward more adsupported tiers with the convergence of publishers and consumers The publishers are looking for a more financially sustainable approach to streaming with some now offering adsupported tiers for their subscription streaming platformsquotFrom the consumer side of the business she indicated that quotConsumers are looking for a way to manage their entertainment costs We now see more adsupported premium video content which has resulted in overall ad view growth at 9 across the US and EU compared to the same time last yearquotUnsurprisingly viewer experience is becoming an important factor in ad optimization quotThere is increasing importance of the viewer experience because there is so much more premium video relying on adsupported content Optimizing the viewer experience becomes vitalquot she asserted quotIt39s always been important but it39s becoming even more so We think of three different buckets related to this topic quantity quality and relevancy of the ads for the audience and have found that audiences do not mind watching advertisements as long as ads do not disrupt their overall content viewing experiencequot In addition to ad relevancy viewer experience is impacted by other factors such as content type and screen size quotHow does that factor into what publishers may consider when it comes to the viewer experiencequot she queriedComparing global to US data she explained that quotone very interesting point is how the distribution platform breaks down TV everywhere authenticated streaming services accompanying a cablesatellite subscription is most prominent in both the US and the EU But that39s where the similarities for distribution platform end There39s a significantly larger use of operator authentication platforms in the EU than in the US and a lot more OTT in the US That39s in part because Europe has a much stronger use of settop boxes whereas in the US FAST channels and direct to consumer OTT platforms are more prominent It is interesting to see that while the majority platform is still the same in both worlds once you start digging in different regions function a bit differentlyquot She saw from the data that quotContent curation opportunities vary by device Longerform content accessed on a larger screen for example allows publishers to accommodate more midrolls breaks of longer durationquot But according to Greaney the threshold for the number of commercials can become disruptive for a viewer if screen size is not considered quotViewers often have a lower threshold on smaller screens So you have to be more particularquotIn terms of trends programmatic is one area that has experienced dramatic growth over the years quotWe saw 21 growth in the US in programmatic distribution It is currently 35 of the ad views in the US and 19 in the EU in the first half of this year It is a growing area of the industryquot she notedFinally when you compare audience targeting approaches the US more heavily utilizes behavioral targeting while the EU relies more heavily on demographic targetingLooking ahead Greaney believes that quotThe video marketplace will have more premium video content that is adsupported as we see already with the hybrid model of videoondemand subscription services and FAST channel growth quotThis is becoming more of a trendquot She explained quotEvolution has always been the nature of the industry Think about traditional television and its use of commercial breaks We39re seeing more and more premium content shift toward this use of advertising With that comes the growing importance of the viewer experience to create an optimized adsupported environment for consumersquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Revealing Video Marketplace Trends in FreeWheel's 1H23 Report

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Charlene Weisler

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