Streaming platforms turn to ads as pay TV’s reign ends in 2025
STAFF REPORTER
THE latest report from global analyst and advisory firm Omdia has set the internet ablaze with its 2025 Trends to Watch report, which predicts 2025 to be the first year that streaming will outpace traditional pay TV – and by a significant margin – earning $213 billion (R3.834 trillion) compared to pay TV's $188 billion (R3.384 trillion).
Declaring the "streaming wars" over, the report also revealed other key streaming themes: advertising will become omnipresent, standalone or “skinny” subscriber video on demand (SVOD) bundles will rise to the fore, and key services will be reinvented as pay TV 2.0.
Sales Director at streaming experts Reach Africa, Leslie Adams,, said while the South African market is slightly less mature than the US and other developed markets, we are seeing a similar scenario play out – with certain unique, localised factors layered in.
“SA audiences are nimble and highly dynamic. We are constantly finding new spaces and ways to consume content in the most affordable way possible – and marketers are being kept on their toes as they struggle to keep up with these movements. This has profound implications for those seeking to reach audiences as they engage with their favourite content,” he said/
Connected TV (CTV) is a device that connects to or is embedded in a television to support video content streaming, such as Xbox, PlayStation and other Smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Hisense and more. CTV advertising is a form of digital advertising that reaches people while they're using CTV, and has been earmarked by analysts as a +R28 billion advertising opportunity.
While CTV is not by any means brand new to the market, it will become ubiquitous in 2025 as CTV advertising takes off. As streaming subscriptions reach saturation point, many streamers have introduced ad-funded tiers to grow their profitability. However, says Adams, as we’ve seen both globally and locally, the mass move of viewers from traditional and paid TV to various streaming over-the-top (OTT) providers has segmented and split audiences even further, creating multiple mini-ecosystems. “But advertising solutions are coming, says Adams, “and the answer lies in CTV.”
CTV advertising offers marketers an unmatched opportunity to reach audiences, regardless of which streaming service they’re using.
“CTV provides the extensive audience reach of traditional television while delivering the targeting and measurable impact of digital advertising. Moreover, thanks to its non-skippable ad formats, CTV achieves some of the highest engagement and video completion rates in the digital ad space.
“Streaming platforms are seeing slower subscription growth, pushing them to diversify revenue streams by introducing ad-supported tiers or dual SVOD and advertising video on demand (AVOD) models, where viewers trade ad views for free or lower subscription costs. According to PwC, advertising will account for 55% of revenue expansion in the media and entertainment industry over the next five years.
“With more and more choice in streaming platforms (there are now more than 26 streamers legally available in SA alone) – and with consumers facing increasing financial pressure due to the rising cost of living – these models are fast gaining popularity,” said Adams.
Nearly 40% of Disney+ subscriptions in the US and Canada are now ad-supported (up from just 3% in 2022) while Netflix – in its Q4 2024 earnings report – revealed its largest-ever quarterly subscriber growth of 18.9 million, which was largely driven by its advertising offering. It stated that 55% of sign-ups in ad-supported markets were now opting for its ads plan, which saw membership grow nearly 30% quarter-over-quarter.
As streamers move from subscriber growth to profitability as a core metric, content churn will speed up, predicts Adams. More is more as viewers toggle between different streamers in a quest to feed their bottomless content appetites, with OTT providers under increasing pressure to keep them engaged with fresh new content. This means less investment from big players and lower production budgets – with the result that the quality of what we’re watching will take a nosedive.