U.S. households with ad-supported
video-on-demand (AVOD) streaming services are not only growing at a faster rate than those with subscription-based video-on-demand services (SVODs); they’ve essentially caught up to SVODs,
Comscore’s State of Streaming analysis confirms.
Between March 2020 and March 2022, AVOD households grew 29%, from 60.1 million to 77.5 million, while SVOD households grew 21%, from 64.5
million to 77.7 million (chart above).
“While both ad-supported and subscription-based streaming services are growing in the U.S., we’re seeing that consumers are being more
mindful of their budgets and leaning towards ad-supported services,” observed James Muldrow, Comscore’s vice president of product management. “This makes sense as inflation continues
to hit consumer’s wallets. The time is ripe for traditionally subscription-based streaming services like Netflix to consider launching an ad-supported tier to enhance their growth
trajectory.”