The Key Players in the Convergent TV Advertising Ecosystem

Here’s a snapshot of the current TV landscape. Feel like your brain is about to explode yet? You’re not alone. As you can see in the graphic to the right, the TV world has grown increasingly more and more fragmented.

Linear and advanced TV have blurred together, with traditional linear broadcasting companies like NBCUniversal owning subscription-based OTT services such as Peacock.

“We will see a continual blurring of lines in TV advertising as carriage deal renewals are negotiated,” said Rich Powell, the senior vice president of national multi-location sales at Goodway Group. “The investments Wall Street is paying attention to are broad and signal new lines are being drawn and aggressive new initiatives applauded. For example, we’ve heard Hulu, the original joint effort to capitalize on a nascent space, is 33% owned by Comcast and 67% by Disney — that shared investment future or camaraderie is in a state of flux.”

Current TV Landscape

We will see a continual blurring of lines in TV advertising as carriage deal renewals are negotiated. The investments Wall Street is paying attention to are broad and signal new lines are being drawn and aggressive new initiatives applauded.

Source: Luma Partners

So, of all of the different players involved in TV, who are the ones to pay attention to? Andrea Kwiatek, director of strategic partnerships at Goodway, recommends you specifically keep your eye on these service types when developing your TV advertising strategy:

Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST)

This TV business model delivers linear channels supported by advertisements via free apps. Similar to linear TV, FAST is a new acronym that was created to distinguish this model from subscription-based providers like Hulu. Most FASTs are owned by large companies. Popular FAST services include Pluto TV (Paramount), Tubi (Fox) and Xumo (Comcast). Also, Sling TV launched its own FAST named Sling Freestream, which is owned by Dish Network. TVREV estimated by 2025, 35% of total ad spend ($33.7 billion) will go to FASTs, and by 2027, this number will rise to 68% ($69 billion).

Ad-Based Videos On-Demand (AVOD)

AVODs are subscription-based streaming services that deliver shows and movies for a fee and include ads. With a recession threat looming, the latter half of 2022 saw 54% of households watching content on two or fewer streaming services, putting newer AVOD options like Netflix and Disney+ in top spots for this year. Other key AVODs are Max, Discovery+, Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock.