A recent report from Digital-I offers compelling insights into the evolving streaming landscape, highlighting the surprising dominance of ad-supported tiers. The data, covering Q4 2024 across the United States & Canada, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, reveals that a remarkable 88% of Amazon Prime Video subscribers have opted for the ad-supported plan. This demonstrates the effectiveness of Amazon’s strategy of converting its existing subscriber base, rather than introducing a new, lower-priced tier.
Other major streaming services also show significant adoption of ad-supported options. Disney+ boasts a 35% ad-supported subscriber base, followed by Netflix at 26% and Max at 22%. While these percentages are growing, the study indicates a consistent trend: ad-free subscribers watch considerably more content daily. Netflix showcases the most significant disparity, with ad-free users watching an average of 24 minutes more per day than their ad-supported counterparts. Other platforms exhibit less variation in daily viewing times.
The report also examines the rising importance of live sports in the streaming world. While live viewing on platforms like Netflix was previously modest, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight in December proved to be a game-changer, contributing to a surge of 457,000 new subscribers. This underscores the immense potential of live sports in driving subscriber growth and attracting new audiences to streaming platforms.