The advertising slump that has hurt traditional TV networks also impacted the biggest streaming services, according to MediaRadar.
MediaRadar said ad spending on six streaming services it tracks — Discovery Plus, Hulu, Max, Paramount Plus, Peacock and Pluto TV — was down 8% to $1.07 billion this year through the end of October, compared to the same period last year.
MediaRadar’s figures do not include advertising newcomers Netflix and Disney Plus, nor do they include Fox’s Tubi, Roku or any of the smart-TV makers.
“Streaming platforms are confronting steep hurdles around ballooning content expenses, password sharing dilution, and an uncertain economic climate. These factors are fueling downstream subscriber and advertising adversities across the industry,” MediaRadar CEO Todd Krizelman said. “As evidence of the challenges, we observed an 8% year-over-year decline in ad spend across six major streaming platforms from January to October 2023. However, the streaming ad market also shows promise — these players alone account for over $1 billion in spend over this period.”
MediaRadar found that advertisers in five product categories — retail, restaurants, medical & pharma, finance and tech — represented nearly half of the dollars spent on streaming platforms.
In the finance category, insurance companies such as Geico, State Farm and Progressive cut their streaming spending by 74% to $32.5 million from $123 million a year ago.
Restaurants and pharmaceutical companies increase their spending.
Restaurants were up 39%, with quick service brands like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Subway boosting spending by 38%
“Quick-service restaurants are making a strategic move by advertising heavily on streaming platforms,” Krizelman said. “With viewers at home, ads for restaurants are likely to prompt immediate orders, placing these brands right where viewers can act on them.”
Pharma spending was up 56%.
Retail and tech also reduced spending, but remained significant advertisers on certain streaming platforms.
Retail accounted for 13% of spending on Hulu and 12% on Pluto TV.
Tech companies made up 19% of spending on Max. T-Mobile and Verizon were among the leading spenders on Paramount Plus.
MediaRadar standalone streaming services data are sampled from the ad-supported streaming packages, across a panel of 2 million people in the U.S.
