FreeWheel has launched its Q3 Video Marketplace Report, looking at the changing dynamics of the ad supported premium video market, as new streaming services continue to enter the market. The report found that streaming services and virtual MVPDs were of increasing importance. “Complexity continues to increase in IP-delivered premium video as the number of streaming services available expands,” said Hasan Iqbal, a senior manager in FreeWheel’s Advisory Services Team and lead author of the report. “Given the desire of advertisers to engage with younger audiences, we see a bright future for ad supported streaming models. Data from our Video Marketplace Report supports this view as ad views on IP-delivered distributor platforms grew 113% year-over-year. Furthermore, premium video remains the most engaging environment for advertisers with mid-roll ad completion rates above 90%.” 

Key takeaways from the report  include:

• Distributor platforms have twice as many ad views as publisher owned and operated properties.
• IP-based delivery made up almost 80% of dynamically inserted ads on distributor platforms versus 20% on traditional set top boxes.
• Streaming services and virtual MVPDs made up 90% of the IP-delivery versus 10% from the “TV Everywhere” services of traditional MVPDs.

The future for ad supported premium video looks strong. There is a need by service providers to generate revenue to cover content creation and service enablement costs, as well as a desire by advertisers to engage with key younger audiences. These needs can be met by ad supported premium video, which remains the most powerful medium to engage with viewers:

• Overall premium video ad views grew 46% year-over-year.
• Completion rates were between 78% – 98% across content types for both pre-roll and mid-roll ads.
• Audience targeted ad views grew 34%, with 69% of these being targeted at behavioral segments, i.e. beyond standard age-gender demos.
• Programmatic ad views grew 76% year-over-year.