The streaming wars was once a phrase used to describe the bloodshed between TV's growing list of streaming services, duking it out for the highest user counts as a seemingly endless scourge of network-branded services bombarded viewers. Now, streaming has left the battlefield, littered with short-lived platforms such as CNN+ and Quibi, to take on bigger foes in force—consumer fragmentation, subscription fatigue, big tech video platforms and the TV measurement mess. Caught in the crosshairs is the $67 billion TV advertising market.
At this point, most streamers have launched ad-supported subscriptions. Despite new ad inventory from Disney+ and Netflix, commitments to low ad loads keep inventory for marketers scarce (not to mention, at industry-high pricing despite growing economic headwinds). As the TV industry evolves, marketers are forced to continually evaluate how brands are making content for streaming platforms and expanding their efforts to better understand audiences.
Ad Age has gathered answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the rapidly evolving (and crowded) streaming industry: