'Lean back' viewing makes a comeback

After more than a decade of cord-cutting, many advertisers worried that the future of TV would be ad-free. Luckily for the industry, that isn’t happening. Netflix emphatically avoided ads for most of its existence, and it wasn't alone. Until recently, Amazon Prime Video didn’t show ads, nor did Disney+ when it launched in 2019. As a result, many advertisers concluded that streaming and subscription video on demand (SVOD) are one and the same, sparking deep concerns that cord-cutters were becoming unreachable on linear TV. But then the opposite happened. Nearly all major SVOD services pivoted to ads—and so have viewers. Today, 88% of Roku households in the U.S. stream free, ad-supported content across dozens of channels. It’s safe to say that this growth of ad-supported viewing will continue into the new year as sports streaming takes off, new streaming apps come on the scene and viewers juggle multiple SVOD subscriptions that get more expensive every year. In fact, we predict that free, ad-supported streaming will represent the majority of streaming in 2025. And we believe that some of the biggest gains will accrue to lean-back viewing experiences as consumers embrace pre-programmed channels that closely resemble linear TV. What’s old has become new again. Ad-supported channels thrived in 2024 This year, viewers flocked to entirely ad-supported channels like Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube and Pluto TV. Tubi has 78 million monthly active users and grew 59% year over year in total viewing time. YouTube accounts for a whopping 10.4% of daily time spent with TV in the U.S. Nielsen estimated that The Roku Channel grew 42% year over year and was up 12% from October to November. Pluto generates 5.6 billion total viewing hours—a 5% increase year over year—and more than $1 billion in annual revenue. In short, these free services are putting up huge numbers. Within the larger ad-supported streaming landscape, the fastest growth is taking place among live, linear viewing experiences, which often include the familiar electronic program guide (EPG). On The Roku Channel, the reach and total streaming hours of these channels grew faster than video-on-demand viewership. It’s worth noting that FAST has made linear TV cool again, as Nielsen put it. Many free TV channels resemble linear TV with their pre-programmed feeds and defined ad breaks, accessible through an EPG that is reminiscent of traditional cable program guides. Leaning in to lean-back TV In addition to being free, channels like MrBeast, Tastemade and Tribeca Channel offer “lean back” viewing that was sorely missed by audiences who have shown they are happy to leave much of the decision-making to programmers. There are hundreds of these live free channels available. In fact, The Roku Channel alone has more than 400 free channels available. It turns out many viewers are content to watch whatever's playing; they're not always choosy about what channel or even what show is streaming. More than 70% of FAST users say that TV is more enjoyable when they can watch whatever is on these free services, according to the Horowitz Research report, State of Media, Entertainment and Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2024. Live TV, free TV, FAST— whatever you want to call it— has become the new cable. It frees audiences from searching the fragmented on-demand space for something to watch and gives them the news, sports and other content they once found on linear TV and streaming apps. They also get this experience at the lowest possible price point—free—whenever they want to watch. Platforms should take note and make it easy for streamers to access the content they want in 2025—whether that's live, lean-back or on demand. About Roku Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku TV™ models, Roku streaming players and TV-related audio devices are available in various countries around the world through direct retail sales and/or licensing arrangements with TV OEM brands. Roku-branded TVs and Roku Smart Home products are sold exclusively in the United States. Roku also operates The Roku Channel, the home of free and premium entertainment with exclusive access to Roku Originals. The Roku Channel is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

'Lean back' viewing makes a comeback

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