Recently, ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) services announced plans for original programming at the IAB NewFronts on Monday, including Fox Entertainment’s Tubi, Amazon’s IMDb TV, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s Crackle Plus and sports-focused service fuboTV. The announcements come as AVOD services have seen increased viewership and subsequent advertiser interest due to consumer behavior changes spurred by the pandemic that could become permanent.
AVODs are appealing to consumers who are facing subscription fatigue among the proliferation of subscription video on demand (SVOD) services like Netflix and Disney+, and offer advertisers opportunities for targeting and measurement in a TV-like video environment. The proportion of consumers using an AVOD service rose from 34% in February 2020 to 58% in February 2021. Tubi will begin rolling out more than 140 hours of original programming, per its announcement. The service, which Fox bought for $440 million just over a year ago, saw total view time increase 54% year-over-year to nearly 800 million hours. In its pitch to advertisers, Tubi talked up the median age of its multicultural audience, data-driven offerings and “insight-led solutions.” Roku in March launched a content studio that will create short-form TV programs, interactive video ads and other content on The Roku Channel, its AVOD offering. Crackle Plus, which operates the Crackle, Popcornflix and forthcoming Chicken Soup For The Soul AVODs, has doubled its content offerings in the past year. With the new AVOD, which will include both a linear free ad-supported TV (FAST) channel and an on-demand offering, seeks to tap into interest in the brand that has sold more than 1 billion self-help books worldwide. FuboTV’s branded content studio will offer advertisers customized short- and long-form content and integrations featuring Fubo Sports Network talent. FuboTV’s ad sales grew 133% year-over-year to $29 million in 2020. Furthermore, as a part of its NewFronts debut, Amazon announced that its IMDb TV AVOD will feature original programming and be available as a standalone mobile app this summer. Due to pandemic, the service had a viewership get high at 138% year-on-year. It has been observed that the main audience for these services are younger generation, the people from 18-49 years of age
