Video Ads Are Streaming In
Over 1 billion streaming video ads and sponsorships are served each month.
Streaming video ads and sponsorships number over 1 billion served each month, according to a new AccuStream iMedia Research report.
The report, “Streaming Video Avails 2000-2005: Inventory History and Growth By Site,” details 2005 streaming video ad initiatives and formats across sites with streaming advertising, as well as site-by-site streaming video usage and trends over several years.
Sites analyzed include America Online, Yahoo, MSN Video, StupidVideos.com, ESPN.com, FOXNews.com, FOXSports.com, IFILM, and Feedroom.
“Video avails have continued to grow as the broadband Internet has matured,” said Paul Palumbo, AccuStream research director. “In addition, many top streaming media sites are owned by major media brands (Time Warner, Yahoo, Disney, Microsoft/NBC), which puts them squarely in line to benefit from a new broadband component to on-air television buys.”
The report found preroll streaming advertising is the most widely used, as well as the most demanded by advertisers and agencies. CPMs (define) range from $20 to $50 and up for highly targeted demographics.
Sponsorships are most popular on TV broadcasters’ Web sites, such as CBSNews.com, BET.com, and FOXNews.com. “A significant number of sites owned by major media brands that experimented with streaming video advertising in 2000 and 2001, and then moved behind subscription services, reemerged as ad-supported content sites in 2004 and 2005,” Palumbo added.
Though subscribers to paid streaming sites typically view more streams per month, sites with ad or sponsorship models are increasing stream counts at a faster rate.
| MSN Video Streaming Video Avails, February 2004 – March 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property | Date | Total Video Streams |
Unique Visitors |
Advertising Format (historical/present) |
| MSN Broadband Video | February 2004 | 30,847,500 | 4,570,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | April 2004 | 35,615,250 | 4,317,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | June 2004 | 43,705,200 | 5,203,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | August 2004 | 27,992,250 | 3,393,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | October 2004 | 46,967,250 | 5,693,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | December 2004 | 39,900,000 | 5,250,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| MSN Video | March 2005 | 70,290,250 | 7,100,000 | Pre roll video advertising |
| Source: AccuStream iMedia Research and Nielsen//NetRatings, 2005 | ||||
MSN Video’s rapid growth and ad-supported model is an example of streaming video growth. Since the program’s launch in February 2004, ad streams more than doubled to over 70.29 million by March 2005. Traffic was robust as well, growing from 4.5 million unique visitors in February 2004 to over 7 million in March 2005. Much of that growth is attributed to promotion on the main MSN site and partnerships with brand-name content providers, including Fox Sports, Major League Baseball, NBC, and MSNBC.
