Streaming services, which offer the modern way of watching television, are using the modern way of media buying when promoting themselves to consumers.
According to a report from MediaRadar, streaming services spent more than $301 million on advertising to promote their services and programming between January and April, and 86% of that spending was placed programmatically.
So far this year, the top programmatic spenders among streaming services are HBO Max, Discovery Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus and Sling TV. (HBO Max and Discovery Plus will both be owned by Discovery when AT&T’s proposal to spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery is completed.)
HBO Max was the top programmatic spender each month.
Those top five spenders represented 62% of the programmatic investment from streaming companies, MediaRadar said.
Programmatic spending has more than doubled year over year in each month so far this year. In January, when Discovery Plus launched, spending jumped 184%. It was up 128% in February, 138% in March and 124% in April.
“Each streaming service has its own branding strategy—niche content, kids programming, sports, live TV, ad-supported tiers and so on—but no matter the approach, each service needs to build awareness via advertising,” MediaRadar noted. “To stay top of mind with consumers, many are turning to programmatic advertising.”
