SAN JUAN, PR — In the current economy, and with the current state of subscription TV services’ content slate, many in the industry have speculated that consumers will embrace new, free TV services.

Now there are some data to prove it.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Sean Buckley, Chief Revenue Officer, Magnite, describes research the company has commissioned to examine the evolution of TV streaming.

Streaming takeover

Magnite released a survey of US and Canada TV-viewing adults, dubbed Streaming Continues To Surge.

To make the report, Harris Interactive carried out an online survey of 3,109 respondents across the US and Canada, split 2,098 in the US and 1,011 in Canada.

It found 81% watch streaming TV, making it the most popular vehicle. That falls to 48% and 30% for paid traditional and broadcast TV, respectively.

Growth ahead?

Buckley says the footprint and the future make ad-supported streaming set for yet more growth.

“Ad-supported streaming is now the most popular form of streaming ahead of ad-free subscription viewing,” Buckley says. “Nearly half of streamers are only watching ad-supported content. It’s really what’s driving the growth in the streaming ecosystem.

“Economic uncertainty is definitely weighing on consumers. They’re definitely rethinking their subscription stack. Forty-nine percent of consumers in the research did say that they were likely to either cancel or downgrade their pay TV subscriptions in the coming year.

“With that being said, 87% of the respondents said that they were likely to subscribe to a new ad-supported streaming service specifically this year. So I think that presents a lot of opportunity for the ad-supported streaming space in particular.”

Streaming synergy

The survey was published just as Magnite merged technology from its Magnite CTV and SpotX platforms into a single supply-side platform (SSP), Magnite Streaming, aiming to help media owners maximize video across live, VOD, CTV, OTT and addressable linear.

“It’s really a culmination of over a year’s worth of work, bringing the best of both worlds together,” Buckley says.

He notes three outcomes of that work:

  1. “Brand new UI that really caters to all the different workflows that media owners have to have to operate with – everything from programmatic guaranteed deals to bid able private deals to marketplace activations.”
  2. “Audience activation and data enablement technology. We’ve invested a ton to help media owners navigate that change in workflow that’s, quite frankly, very different from other areas of digital media.”
  3. “Live monetization. Live sports, live events are such an important part of the TV ecosystem. We think programmatic should play a critical role, given the unpredictability of those environments, and the ability to react in real-time. But that really requires dedicated technology and customization in order to manage those types of environments well.”

Magnite’s attraction

Magnite is a publicly traded advertising technology company that provides a range of solutions to help digital publishers and advertisers buy and sell advertising space. The company, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, was formed in April 2020 when Rubicon Project and Telaria merged.

Magnite’s platform allows advertisers to manage their programmatic advertising campaigns across multiple channels, including display, mobile, video, and connected TV. It ofers targeting and optimization capabilities, as well as real-time reporting and analytics, to help advertisers get the most out of their campaigns.

On the supply side, Magnite offers a sell-side platform (SSP) that helps publishers monetize their digital inventory. The SSP provides access to a large pool of advertisers and enables publishers to set pricing and ad delivery rules, as well as to analyze performance and optimize revenue.

You’re watching coverage of Beet Retreat San Juan 2023, presented by LiveRamp, Madhive, Magnite, Paramount, T-Mobile Advertising Solutions and VideoAmp. For more videos from the Beet Retreat, please visit this page.

By Robert Andrews on @robertandrews