Latest in AVOD

The looming writers strike in the U.S. could be an "interesting opportunity" for producers working outside the country in an era of globalized content, CAA's head of Global TV Ted Miller told a panel at the MIA Market in Rome on Thursday. "I think there’s likely going to be a writers strike," he…

EXCLUSIVE: As streaming leaders Netflix and Disney prepare to roll out ad-supported subscription tiers, new research from Fandom indicates a majority of paying customers plan to take a wait-and-see approach before trading down to a cheaper plan. About 57% of the 1,000 entertainment fans in the study agreed with this…

Lionsgate and Fox Corp.’s free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi have set a multi-year slate deal to give 30 new feature films and 200 library titles a presence on the platform. The agreement covers films that are not part of Lionsgate's pay-1 theatrical output deal with Starz. Among the new releases with exclusive…

Disney+ will generate $1.8 billion in U.S. ad revenue by 2025 from its forthcoming ad-supported streaming tier, with Netflix coming in at $1.2 billion, Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson estimates in a new report. While Disney will pile up more cash, Netflix’s bottom line will benefit more from the influx of ads…

In an all-stock deal struck designed for the current high-inflation economic environment facing streaming consumers, Crackle parent Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is acquiring Redbox. The value of the deal is about $375 million, most of which is the assumption of Redbox debt. Founded in the heyday of DVDs two…

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings finally acknowledged what most people outside of the company have been saying for years: In order to keep growing, the company will need to incorporate ads. The executive offered his view on the subject Tuesday after Chief Product Officer Greg Peters addressed the spread in pricing among…

IMDb TV, Amazon's free, ad-supported video on demand streaming service, is rebranding to Amazon Freevee, beginning April 27. The rebranding had been in the works for awhile, with the idea for the new moniker to share the Amazon branding of its parent company. Originally launched as Freedive in January 2019, IMDb TV…

As viewership of YouTube in the living room continues to grow, the company is getting into the ad-supported longform game, adding 4,000 library TV episodes and 1,500 movies. The move will give the Google-owned video power more of a profile in the burgeoning AVOD marketplace. Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Disney and…

Fox Corp.’s Tubi had 3.6 billion hours streamed in 2021, a 40% increase over 2020, as overall viewing migrates from subscription to free and ad-supported services. That’s one of the main findings in an annual report released by Tubi and highlighted by Fox executives during the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings…

A few days after WarnerMedia said HBO and HBO Max ended 2021 with 73.8 million global subscribers, ad sales president JP Colaco said consumers had been enticed to “sign up in droves” for its cheaper, ad-supported tier. In an online appearance at the TV of Tomorrow Show, the exec declined to provide a breakout of how…

The Tokyo Olympics turned in a muted performance in the ratings overall, but they were enough to lift broadcast TV’s share of total viewing in July, according to Nielsen’s latest edition of The Gauge. The monthly snapshot found that broadcast was at 24% of all viewing, up 1% from June, but streaming commanded 28%…

The El Rey Network, which is getting set to make a rare transition from cable TV to free streaming, has set a deal for crucial real estate on the Roku Channel. Starting tomorrow, the Robert Rodriguez-founded network, will start streaming as a 24-7 linear offering on the Roku Channel, one of more than 190 on the free…