How ‘Serendipity and Algorithms’ Have Driven the Ad-Supported Streaming Revolution
While traditional TV providers are losing steam, ad-supported streaming services are continuing to win over viewers — and that doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. That was the key takeaway from The Streaming Revolution virtual panel on Wednesday at TheGrill. Danny Fisher, chief executive of FilmRise, the panel’s presenting sponsor, pointed out early on that AVOD services have spearheaded a “massive disruption” in the entertainment industry, where consumers have become “the decider of programming.” In the past, the conventional wisdom, Fisher said, was that major studios created product and then persuaded their viewers to watch it. Now, the script has flipped. With so many choices — especially from ad-supported services like Roku and Xumo — there’s “been a sea change,” Fisher said, from viewers being dictated to, to consumers saying “you know what, we’re going to decide. We have so many choices… we’re going to watch what we want to watch.” Rob Holmes, VP of Programming at Roku, agreed, before noting the company has been on a tear over the last year, adding 12 million monthly active accounts. Roku now has 43 million monthly accounts, Holmes said, but perhaps the more impressive figure was how much time Roku...
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