Subscription streaming has reached mainstream status globally. Growth now hinges on harder-to-reach, price-sensitive markets where uncertain demand and uneven access create new hurdles—and fresh opportunities—for platforms chasing their next wave of viewers.

Subscription OTT streaming is one of only a few media categories still seeing meaningful time spent growth in the US. The major platforms are heading in different directions, however.

With most of the US already watching, growth in overall OTT viewership has slowed to a crawl. But some platforms, formats, and service tiers are still booming, and digital pay TV is complicating the linear TV narrative.

Many in digital advertising, including the Interactive Advertising Bureau, have begun to use connected TV (CTV) as an umbrella term to include content delivered via CTV devices or OTT services.

OTT digital video services are now popular everywhere, although fee-based sub OTT is not yet mainstream in every country. The outlook is positive for both free and paid OTT around the world, but growth will slow significantly.

OTT video viewing is about to get a boost in the UK, as traditional TV viewing gets a broadband delivery option next year.

UK consumers have a voracious appetite for digital video content, but the cost-of-living crisis is boosting ad-supported options, particularly broadcaster video-on-demand services. Netflix’s pivot to an ad tier, meanwhile, may have legs.

Come 2024, the number of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, at 138.1 million, will surpass the pay TV viewership, at 129.3 million, in the US. The gap will continue to widen as more people say goodbye to traditional cable, satellite, or telecom live TV services.

US TV ad spending will decline from next year through 2026 except for a slight uptick in 2024. At the same time, connected TV ad spending will grow at double-digit annual rates, more than offsetting the losses on the traditional side.

Digital video viewership continues to rise in the UK, despite already high penetration. A thirst for subscription content hasn’t quite been sated, but with a cost-of-living crisis looming, ad-supported options might garner interest among consumers.

Amazon to buy MGM library: The deal would give Amazon leverage over rivals that license out MGM content—plus, it could help the company increase watch time on Prime Video.

Before the pandemic, linear addressable TV ad spending was soaring in the US, with annual growth rates of 50.7% in 2018 and 36.5% in 2019. But that spending increased by just 7.3% in 2020, amid advertising budget cuts in the TV industry.

What to look out for at the NewFronts: CTV and social video will shine at this week's digital upfront presentations, as both formats have grown rapidly over the past year.

In December, we published our first forecast for Pluto TV ad revenues. Pluto TV, a free streaming service operated by ViacomCBS, will receive $786.7 million in net US ad revenues in 2021, a 77.7% increase over the previous year. In 2022, Pluto TV’s net US ad revenues will surpass $1 billion annually for the first time.

As more viewers leave traditional TV packages for streaming alternatives, there is a heightened interest in how much money is being spent on video subscriptions and which companies are benefiting from changes in consumer viewing patterns.

Overall subscription video revenues keep increasing, driven by gains in OTT viewing.

Within digital media channels, probably the longest-standing gap in measurement information lies with the walled gardens—a group that includes Google, Facebook, a host of other walled social platforms, and Amazon. Some in the industry are also talking more of walled gardens—or attempts to build them—in the connected TV (CTV) or over-the-top (OTT) space.

Early in 2020, as the pandemic was getting underway, Americans flocked to their TV sets at a rate unseen in years. Initially, US households were glued to the news, as uncertainty over the coronavirus drove viewership. In the following weeks, the TVs mostly stayed on, as the initial wave of lockdowns kept Americans stuck on the couch with lots of new time to kill.

In 2021, the biggest US beneficiary of the streaming bonanza will be Disney. After a plethora of streaming competitors launched in 2020, Netflix still added a substantial number of subscribers. Equally as impressive as Netflix’s sustained dominance was Disney+’s ability to quickly gain viewers. These developments show there’s room for multiple services to thrive in this fast-growing market.

Following a strong launch in November 2019, Disney+ is on track to surpass $4 billion in US subscription revenues by 2022. In its first full year, Disney+ has grown rapidly, spurred by in-demand content and stay-at-home orders. In fact, the service will help The Walt Disney Co. reach Netflix’s share of the market by 2022, according to the inaugural eMarketer OTT subscription revenue forecast by Insider Intelligence.