US VOD ad-supported tier subs surpass 100MN mark

According to the analyst’s data, currently, more than a million US Netflix accounts are on the ad-supported tier, representing nearly 2% of the entire subscriber base, whilst around 800,000 Disney+ accounts are on the ad-supported tier, representing around 2% of its subscriber base. In addition, prior to the launch of Max on 23 May 2023, Discovery+ had in the region of 10 million ad-supported accounts and HBO Max had around a million.

Ampere also expects that more than 90% of Hulu subscribers are on the ad-supported tier, representing around 45 million subscriptions. Hulu launched as an ad-supported subscription service in 2010, before launching its ad-free tier in 2015.

Peacock has the most ad-supported subscribers of any new US over-the-top (OTT) service, with more than 30 million ad-supported subscribers. The Paramount+ service was not far behind Peacock, with more than 25 million ad-supported subscribers to its service in the US.

Assessing the future prospects of ad-supported video services, Ampere believes that hybrid services form an increasingly important element of streaming service monetisation and that hybrid tiers often generate more revenue per subscription than their ad-free counterparts. This said the analyst was a key reason why Netflix has begun to remove the option for new subscribers to take the ad-free basic tier in many of its markets. It added that tiers also represent a way for consumers to maintain a wider array of subscriptions while economic times remain tough. Rapid TV News