A new study by LG Ad Solutions found that there were two recent ‘big shifts’ in television viewing habits: rapid adoption of streaming content on connected television (CTV) and consumers drifting away from some of their CTV subscriptions to free content supported by ads.

Tony Marlow, global CMO at LG Ad Solutions, says the shift began during COVID.

“In fact, there was probably a period where we saw potentially three years of viewership change at that point and time,” he says. “This was essentially the first phase of the shift to CTV.”

Today, however, says Marlow, the data is showcasing that there is a second phase of this shift. 

“The early days were underpinned by subscription models. However, now, people are actually announcing that they prefer ad-supported models.”

The study found that 60% of respondents said that ad-supported models of TV are in their usage repertoire and 58% said they prefer them. “The data shows that people are slowly but surely shifting to ad-supported models,” says the executive.

When asked what people expected in the next 12 months, 20% of respondents said they intended to remove one subscription model from their house and 13% said they intended to add an ad-supported version.

“We see this trend accelerating through 2023,” adds Marlow. 

This does not stop linear TV from performing well. “No one is saying linear TV is dead,” explains Marlow. “But people are undoubtedly embracing CTV and particularly ad-supported CTV.”

One part of the equation influencing these changes is the economic headwinds and associated fears affecting Canada, says Marlow.

“People are starting to talk about subscription cycling where they subscribe to a particular service only to drop it once they’ve watched all their desired content.”

Additionally, as people have several subscription models the costs start to add up. As such people want more content but don’t want to pay another monthly fee. “This is impacting the shift to ad-supported content,” explains Marlow.

This has proved quite beneficial for advertisers.

“Marketers now have the opportunity to connect with viewers on the biggest screen in their homes in a way that they want to connect,” concludes Marlow.