• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, May 13, 2022

More than 3,000 brands from nearly 1,400 companies spent more than $369 million on ad-supported streamers in this year's first quarter, according to an analysis by advertising intelligence platform MediaRadar.

The study is based on reviews of advertising across multiple ad-supported streaming platforms, including the ad-supported tiers of Hulu, Peacock and HBO Max. Standalone streaming services were sampled from ad-supported streaming packages across a panel of 2 million people in the U.S.

Ad spending routinely dips in Q1, after heavy holiday spending in Q4, but the Q1 2022 streaming spend was down by a modest 6% from Q4 2021’s $395 million, according to the analysis.

Q1’s spend was also 5% higher than Q3 2021’s $353 million.

About a quarter of the streaming service advertisers during this year’s first quarter did not advertise on those platforms during 2021.

“As we come out of the pandemic and this form of media stabilizes, it isn’t surprising advertisers are testing advertising on OTT platforms,” observes MediaRadar CEO and co-founder Todd Krizelman. “It’s a great place for advertisers to stand out and not have their message lost.”

On the other hand, 72% (2,600) of the 3,600 companies that purchased OTT ads in 2021 had not yet advertised on the platforms by the end of Q1 2022. In 2021, those advertisers spent a combined $86 million. 

The top five spenders in Q1 2022 were Berkshire Hathaway, Capital One, Microsoft, State Farm and Verizon. They accounted for more than $49 million, or 13%, of total OTT spend in the quarter.