This post is a section from Antenna's 2021 Year in Streaming Report. If you are interested in receiving the full report, contact brendan@antenna.live
With more choice than ever in the Premium SVOD category, Antenna data indicates that consumers opted for less expensive,Ad-Supported Subscriptions more in 2021 than in prior years.
Total Ad-Supported Sign-ups grew +117%year-over-year, from 19.4M in 2020 to 42.2M in 2021. Ad-Supported plans accounted for 32% of all Premium SVOD Sign-ups in 2021, versus just 19% in 2020.
This comes despite the fact that only five of the ten services that Antenna includes in the category offer an Ad-Supported option (Discovery+, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock).
The jump in Ad-Supported Sign-ups translated to a +3pt increase in share of Total Premium SVOD Subscriptions onAd-Supported plan tiers, from 19% in 2020 to 22% at the end of2021.
The complexion of Subscribers by plan tier varies at the service-level.
Antenna data indicates that the majority ofSubscribers to Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock are on the Ad-Supported tiers of each service. Discovery+, on the other hand, has a lower proportion of Subscribers on its Ad-Supported tier. Interestingly, Discovery+ charges consumers a smaller price premium to go Ad-Free (+$2/mo, versus +$5/mo for Paramount+ and Peacock, and +$6/mo for Hulu), suggesting that many consumers have strong price sensitivity when deciding between plan tiers.
HBO Max launched its Ad-Supported option in June 2021, and by year-end, 8% of Subscribers were on that plan. The Ad-Supported plan tier did not include access to the Warner Bros. day-and-date films, which drove significant user acquisition for the service.
Brendan Brady is a Content Strategy Associate at Antenna, a measurement and analytics company providing insight into purchase behavior and subscription metrics across the new media landscape.
