AdExchanger: Captify’s Matthew Papa—Streaming M&A Means New Monetization Opportunities And Measurement Tactics
Extracted from AdExchanger, by Matt Papa, Captify’s SVP of Business and Corporate Development.
Global brands have always used M&A as a not-so-secret way to remain competitive.
The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets before launching their streaming service Disney+. AT&T acquired Time Warner’s media brands (Warner Bros., Turner Television, HBO and CNN) before offloading everything to Discovery.
But this industry-shaking consolidation doesn’t end there.
The emergence of the streaming era has led to a transformative shift in media and entertainment. Amazon recently spent $8.5 billion to acquire MGM’s vast movie library, some of which is available on its ad-supported Freevee service.
Comcast, Fox and Paramount have seen a similar market opportunity, acquiring ad-supported channels like Xumo, Tubi and Pluto, respectively. Roku is bidding for a stake in linear channel Starz after striking a multiyear theatrical output deal with its owner Lionsgate. ViacomCBS also rebranded and moved its content to Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery intends to merge its streaming apps into a single destination bundle.
Marketers should be ready to take advantage.
The new streaming audience tier
It’s becoming clear that streaming subscriptions alone aren’t a completely sustainable business model. The once-untouchable streaming titan Netflix recently announced subscriber loss for the first time in a decade. It prompted Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-chief executive, to admit a lower-priced, ad-supported tier was coming despite his vehement stance against it several years ago.
As for marketers, there’s never been a better time to find unified scales to meet consumers in their preferred ad-supported channels. Data now shows nearly half of US consumers say they have reached a saturation point for premium-priced streaming services. Ad-supported models will allow streamers to monetize a new, more cost-conscious audience tier that is no longer willing to pay steep monthly or annual prices.
Want to find out more? Read the full article on AdExchanger.
