Most consumers have accepted that paying less for streaming services means having to sit through ads. Only 13% of consumers are opposed to ad tiers in streaming, down from 36% in 2022, according to new research from consumer data company Disqo.
Streaming may appear to be an established medium to the average consumer, but it is still a young market for advertisers. The new findings come as Netflix, Disney+ and now Amazon have introduced ad tiers for their programming, charging viewers less for ad-supported subscriptions versus the ad-free ones they were used to.
Today, Amazon’s Prime Video entered the streaming ad tier faceoff with potentially industry-disrupting force. And while ad buyers expressed frustrations with its out-of-touch timing for entering the market, there’s no question among them that it will bring the scale and capabilities necessary to sway brands toward streaming-first TV strategies.
That’s where the disconnect lies in accelerating the so-called streaming wars: consumers are rapidly shifting away from linear TV, but advertisers haven’t been quite as quick to formulate campaigns around streaming capabilities. Efforts are being made to get brands on board with new formats native to digital video platforms, but time is of the essence if streamers want to sway consumers to accept advertising on their platforms.