This briefing covers the latest trends in the TV and streaming ad business based on quarterly earnings reports for Q1 2024.
TV and Streaming Ad Revenue Trends
Traditional TV vs. Streaming:
- Traditional TV ad revenue is still recovering, while streaming ad revenue continues to grow but has room for improvement.
- Companies reliant on traditional TV had a tough quarter, whereas those focused on streaming saw positive results.
Year-over-Year Ad Revenue Changes:
- AMC Networks: -13%
- Fox: -34%
- Fubo: +21%
- NBCUniversal: Flat
- Paramount: +17%
- Roku (platform revenue): +19%
- TelevisaUnivision (U.S.): Flat
- Warner Bros. Discovery: -8%
- Vizio (platform revenue): +27%
Q1 2024 Ad Revenues by Company:
- Paramount: $3.1 billion
- Warner Bros. Discovery: $2.2 billion
- NBCUniversal (U.S.): $2.0 billion
- Fox: $1.2 billion
- Roku (platform revenue): $754.9 million
- TelevisaUnivision (U.S.): $399 million
- Vizio (platform revenue): $159.6 million
- AMC Networks: $140 million
- Fubo: $27.5 million
Streaming Ad Revenue Dynamics
- Paramount: Streaming ad revenue increased by 31% year over year, representing 17% of total ad revenue.
- Warner Bros. Discovery: Streaming ad revenue rose by 70% year over year, accounting for 8% of total ad revenue.
- NBCUniversal: Strong advertising growth at Peacock was offset by lower revenue at linear networks.
- Disney: U.S. traditional TV ad revenue declined due to lower viewership, while streaming ad revenue increased due to higher impressions.
Key Insights
- Sports Rights: Sports play a significant role in ad revenue, with companies paying billions for NFL rights. Streaming companies like Roku and Amazon are also acquiring sports rights.
- Market Health: Disney CFO Hugh Johnston noted that the advertising market is healthy, especially for live and sports content.
Industry Commentary
- TV Network Executive: Advises clients to buy sports in the upfront market due to high demand.
Notable Figures
- ESPN: Will pay $2.8 billion per year to retain NBA rights.
Additional Coverage
- Snap: Expanding its advertiser base amid TikTok's uncertain future in the U.S.
- TikTok: Testing new machine learning ad tools to automate campaign creative.
Industry Developments
- TV Networks’ New Audience Pitch: Traditional TV ad sellers focus on audiences' purchasing power rather than age demographics.
- Hollywood’s AI Licensing Talks: Alphabet and Meta discuss licensing content to train AI models.
- ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery: ESPN licenses college football games to WBD, which may lose NBA rights.
- Diverse Streaming Audiences: Women and people of color dominate streaming viewership but are underrepresented in film production.
This summary captures the key points and trends in the TV and streaming ad business based on the latest quarterly earnings reports.
