• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, August 12, 2021

It's SVOD (subscription video on demand) vs. AVOD (advertising video on demand). Who’s winning now? Maybe it’s more complex than that.

Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, says -- along with many others -- that there is SVOD fatigue for new subscribers.

Well, there is some vested business interest at stake here. Green presides over one of the largest demand-side platforms for advertisers and media agencies -- one that keep talking up the rising connected TV media business, a strong subset of ad-supported services.

But according to a new survey from Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), there’s another picture: Total U.S. spending on subscription services grew rose 21% in the first six months of 2021 to $12.2 billion, and up 17% in the second quarter to $6.3 billion.

All this comes a year after strong at-home entertainment growth, due to the pandemic.

So which service is really tiring?

The reality is that premium streaming services give plenty of options for consumers -- no advertising/fee-based, limited advertising/fee-based, and ad-supported/free -- among them.

One note here: The DEG survey appears to focus on subscription fees -- whether attached to advertising support or not.

From this research, consumers are taking two sides: Those wanting TV with no advertising; and those who don’t want any monthly streaming fees -- and don’t mind the ad messaging.

Both points of view are understandable. For the latter, one argument is virtually all those ad-supported options have limited commercial interruptions of just four-to-five minutes per hour of programming.

Still AVOD seems to be growing -- high demand from TV marketers looking for the reach lost from linear TV. Conversely, TV networks continue to angle for greater digital-connected premium TV ad advertising from lost linear TV impressions.

Consider the current situation: Nielsen says streaming, across all TV homes, now has a 26% share of total day usage of television among persons aged 2+. But streaming "ad-supported" platforms only comprise a 4% share.

The race thickens for some -- especially those looking for a single winner. That might be the big vision, glossy picture. But in the reality of the growing complex digital world, winners may be everywhere.