Streaming War in US: Competition Heats Up for Ad Funded Video On-Demand Services

NEW YORK, July 7, 2025 - The US streaming market will approach $17 billion in advertising revenue this year, says Ampere Analysis in a recent report.

Ampere has revealed that ad funded video on-demand services such as Advertising Based Video on Demand (AVOD) and Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD), as well as linear FAST channels and social video services like YouTube are becoming increasingly significant for grabbing eyeballs.

AVOD, BVOD

Notably, AVOD is a video-on-demand monetization strategy, where the platform relies on advertisers to generate revenue while users access their favorite content for free. The best-known AVOD platform is YouTube.

BVOD is a media distribution model where users access online and on-demand video content from traditional, free-to-air TV broadcasters.

As per Ampere, growth is strong in the UK too with around GBP1.1 billion (USD$1.37bn) in online video ad revenue (specifically VOD and FAST advertising delivered to viewers on streaming services such as Netflix, Tubi, Disney+) predicted for 2025 rising to GBP1.6bn (USD$1.99 billion) by 2029.

The British-based analysis and research firm isn’t the only market researcher to pinpoint ads as a chief income generator for streaming video.

“Ads are the new revenue multiplier,” stated McKinsey in its October Growth industries and The Next Big Arenas of Competition report.

Indeed, as subscription revenue growth levels off, global AVOD revenue will continue to grow at double-digit rates through 2028, with a five-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 141 percent, says PwC in its Global E&M Outlook 2024-2028.

Within three years advertising will account for about 28 percent of global streaming revenues, up from 20 percent in 2023, it estimates.

FAST

FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) is a business model that is gaining pace.

As the name suggests, it is a streaming TV service that supplies programming for free. Almost the entire FAST services offer linear channels and on demand options.

However, it is the “free” aspect that sets them apart, not the “ad-supported” part.

SVOD

SVOD (subscription video on demand) is also a business model. It means the service charges a subscription fee. While “video on demand” is in the acronym, now almost all SVOD services show live events, which are decidedly not “on demand” though that has not affected use of the acronym.  Similarly, although many subscription services offer both ad-free and ad-supported options. However, “subscription” is the key difference here, as the viewer is paying money to watch the service.

Ampere has delved deeper into its research. For instance, Ampere consumer data shows that in the US, 40 percent of 18-to 64-year-olds report having watched an AVOD service in the past month prior to researching last fall, which is double that of five years ago.

Ampere analysis monetization ad-supported video Netflix subscription video on demand (SVOD) Prime Video Amazon FAST video on demand (VOD) advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) advertising revenue Disney+ pricing and packaging price hike ad load Video Advertising.

“These AVOD viewers represent a highly engaged audience,” said Annabel Yeomans, research manager at Ampere Analysis.

“On average they watch an hour’s more content per day than non-AVOD viewers and within that, AVOD services are really significant, accounting for 25 percent of that viewing time.”

Annabel was quoting as saying that this puts pressure on broadcasters and SVODs “who typically see their share of that viewing time squeezed when AVOD services enter the viewing mix. Broadcasters should focus on their own VOD platforms as a way of reaching consumers as more and more services enter the market.”

As subscription revenue growth levels off, global AVOD revenue will continue to grow at double-digit rates through 2028, with a five-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 141 percent.

Inputs from Saqib Malik

Editing by David Ryder