Pay TV and Cable Lost 5.8M Subscribers in 2022
by Frankie Karrer
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SVOD, AVOD, TVOD—there are so many acronyms to remember when viewers just want to keep track of their favorite characters and shows.
TV viewership has changed drastically in the past few years (goodbye cable cords, hello wireless viewing). However, it’s going to keep changing as different platforms fight for viewers and struggle to become profitable, particularly in the face of economic uncertainty and an audience that may not want or be able to keep spending top dollar for an increasing number of services.
If you’re looking to make sense of the new TV landscape, read on.
SVOD stands for Subscription Video On Demand. In the SVOD model, viewers pay a monthly or annual fee which gives them access to a library of shows and movies. This is the model that blew up classic network TV and cable TV. SVOD accounts for 53% of all streaming time and around 220.1 million viewers (65.5% of the US population). SVOD is supported by subscription fees, not advertising.
SVOD services are the leaders in the Connected TV (CTV) space. SVOD services include:
The pros of SVOD are simple:
The cons are also obvious to anyone who’s signed up for an SVOD:
AVOD stands for Advertising Video On Demand. Instead of being supported by your subscription fees, it’s supported the old-fashioned way with advertising.
Some prominent AVOD platforms include:
AVOD’s pros are as follows:
For some, the ads constitute a disruption of narrative flow. However, research suggests that this depends on how many ads are shown, with consumers being fine with five ads or fewer.
While some AVODs are free, many (like Peacock and Hulu) still involve a monthly subscription fee. Even if these fees are lower than pure SVOD, they can still add up. You may want to draw the line somewhere rather than sign up for a half-dozen AVODs.
Still, trends show that AVOD is on the rise as a way for consumers to deal with increasing costs. Of HBO Max’s viewers, 30% watch on the AVOD tiers. And 73% of Peacock’s viewers watch with ads.
It’s critical for advertisers to focus on making high-quality—aka living room quality—ads so as not to detract from the viewing experience.
TVOD stands for Transactional Video on Demand. Like Pay-Per-View or a digital Blockbuster, it allows you to buy or rent videos transactionally on an individual basis.
Popular TVOD platforms include:
TVOD’s pros are:
Making several TVOD transactions can add up and get pricey when compared to the solid value proposition of a streaming service. This could get expensive if you have kids who want to watch the same movie repeatedly.
TVOD services may not offer every single thing you want to see. The internet has a lot on offer, but not everything is accessible. If you love cool old movies, subscribing to a site like Criterion Channel may give you more access to diverse offerings.
CTV stands for “Connected TV.” On CTV, content is streamed solely via TV screens that are connected to the internet. CTV streaming devices can include: Rokus, Apple TVs, and Smart TVs.
OTT stands for “over-the-top,” meaning content that comes over your cable box via the internet rather than through a cable or satellite. Content may be watched on any device that has a connection to the internet—mobile, tablets, desktops—but more and more, people are shifting back to the TV screen in their living room.
Related: TV Advertising Campaigns: How Television Marketing Works
Demand generation refers, logically enough, to the appetite you can create in your audience for your product. The old days of advertising were scattershot at best, but CTV has provided a dynamic new advertising channel for a wide variety of brands. MNTN Performance TV allows for a data-rich, constantly improving approach to targeting your audience and getting their attention in a crowded media landscape.
AVOD services are not only here to stay, they’re increasing in popularity. eMarketer projects that 41.6% of the US population will watch streaming content through AVOD services this year, and that figure is expected to reach nearly 50% by 2026. That means the audience is there for you to capture—so long as you have targeted, high-quality and entertaining ads.
Related: 10 Demand Generation Campaign Strategies That Actually Work
Compared to a handful of basic cable and network options in the old days, viewership could be seen as fragmenting with so many SVOD, AVOD and TVOD options. On the plus side, however, there’s a captive audience to be found at home watching SVOD, AVOD and TVOD content.
Viewers’ dependency on streaming services has only increased in recent years. That viewership may change with trends favoring one service or another, but the demand has certainly increased and shows no signs of reversing soon.
With a nimble partner, you can conquer the world of OTT and CTV, turning audiences’ hunger for quality content into a performance advertising channel of unprecedented power.
Get in touch with MNTN today to see how we can help you craft a killer campaign for your product. We can help you harness the power of data so that you can stand out and make a real impact on viewers. We make it easy, affordable and even fun—because you can’t afford to sleep on the potential of AVOD.
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