On today's episode, we discuss how airlines, hotels, and vacation rental homes are recovering, and the ways in which travel might be changed forever. We then talk about the shift of ad dollars and viewers from connected TV to linear, TV makers that are staking their future growth on streaming ads, and how the vMVPD (skinny bundle) market is shaking out. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer associate forecasting analyst Zach Goldner, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

Unlike other TV services, vMVPDs are experiencing user growth, which means their influence on the video industry is growing. vMVPD Revenues. This year, vMVPDs will account for nearly one-fourth of total OTT subscription revenues. vMVPD subscription revenues will total $9.08 billion in 2021 and grow to $13.87 billion by 2024.

While vMVPDs deliver a wide range of content, including news and entertainment, a majority of vMVPD service viewers are watching sports on these services. The number of live sports viewers on vMVPDs will reach 24.1 million in 2021. That figure will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% through the end of the forecast period to 2025, compared with 3.9% for vMVPD viewers overall.

Though Hulu + Live TV viewers will make up just 10.8% of Hulu’s total viewer base, we estimate the service will account for 34.9% of virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) viewers in the US by year-end, the largest share of vMVPD viewers among the services that we break out. We estimate that US TV ad sales will rebound somewhat this year, increasing by 6.7% to $65.90 billion.

Nearly a third (31.6%) of US homes now access TV by means other than exclusive MVPD subscriptions with cable or satellite operators, including virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs), which now represent 7.8% of all households, per Nielsen. This diversity in TV access modes should be mirrored in the composition of homes included in measurement data sets to accurately depict viewership.

The only pay TV category with growing subscription revenues is the virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) category. Also called skinny bundles, linear OTT, and virtual cable, vMVPDs are merely streaming products that digitally deliver linear TV programming as it’s aired. vMVPD subscription revenues will be $9.08 billion in 2021 and grow to $11.01 billion by the end of 2022.

Another early entrant into the US sports gambling business is fuboTV, a sports-focused vMVPD. The company has market access licenses, pending regulatory approval, in New Jersey, Indiana, and Iowa, and is in advanced discussions with other states, according to co-founder and CEO David Gandler.