As cord-cutting undermines the traditional pay TV industry, media companies and advertisers are scrambling to develop new streaming ad strategies.
What that means for cord-cutters is more — and hopefully better and more varied — advertising during on-demand videos. It will also mean more streaming services competing for your entertainment budget.
TV Advertising Is Dead
Bloomberg just reported that, at a time when advertisers are spending more than ever, TV advertising declined almost 8% from last year.
“The peak of the TV ad market was two years ago,” industry analyst Michael Leszega told Bloomberg.
The report cites streaming services like Hulu, which made more than $1 billion of advertising, as the next opportunity for advertisers.
AT&T Pitches it’s Dominance
AT&T is seizing that opportunity to grab as many streaming ad dollars as possible. Digiday got its hands on a presentation AT&T’s sales team uses with advertisers.
The telco makes the case that its DirecTV Now live TV streaming service is the best place to advertise. That’s thanks to DirecTV Now’s large customer base, which uses the service 50% more than the company’s largest competitor, Sling TV.
Pay TV Is Dead
Recode reported comments about the death of pay TV from Disney’s chief strategy officer, Kevin Mayer.
Mayer believes that cord-cutting will strangle traditional ad revenues. The only way for content producers to keep making money is to sell direct to consumers.
That thinking explains, in part, the launch of Disney’s own streaming service as well as other moves in the industry. CBS launched CBS All Access. Viacom is creating its own streaming service. And many cable-oriented media companies invested in Philo’s low-cost streaming service.
Chris Casper is a former tech industry product manager who escaped from California for New Mexico. Now he writes about science and tech while searching for the perfect green chile sauce.
