Ad-supported streaming grows

A report from Comscore, a ratings service, says that more and more people in the U.S. are using ad-supported streaming services. To those I say, "Welcome."

I've long been an advocate of the free streaming services over the pay services for some time. And, of course, the free streaming services are by and large ad-supported services.

A little over a year ago, I viewed with some skepticism a report that free ad-supported services were on the rise, mainly because the study was commissioned by Tubi, a free ad-supported service. But, I said I wished it was true, and thought it could be true, but it seemed a little self-serving by Tubi.

Earlier this year, there were suggestions that free services could pass pay services for streamers. Not sure that will happen, but the trend is there. The report by Comscore says that the number of ad-supported services grew at a higher rate and pay subscription services.

...ad-supported streaming services (AVOD) are being adopted at a faster rate than subscription-based services (SVOD). AVOD services saw a 29% increase in 2022, compared to 2020. SVOD services saw a 21% increase in the same time period.

Is this bad news for pay services? Not at all, at least I don't think it is. Streaming overall is growing, and 21 percent increase is nothing to sneeze at. I think this means that more people are realizing just how much good free content is there. And free is cheaper than pay.

Pay services won't go away at all. There is content that is only available on pay services. I subscribe to several pay services, in fact. Only, I don't subscribe to them all at the same time. I'll subscribe to one this month, a different one next month, a still different one the next month, and so on. I'll binge and catch up during the month, then go to another the next month, and do this all year long. But I keep the ad-supported services year-round, of course.

There is a lot of good free content. If you are spending all your time on pay services, take a break and look around at the free content. Really look. You may find that you can save a lot of money, and use the pay services to fill in from time to time.

It's really a good way to spend your Streaming Life without spending a lot of money.