Ampere Analysis: why streamers are pushing unscripted content and staggered drops to chase ad revenue

As the global streaming industry matures, the historical pursuit of pure subscriber growth has been eclipsed by the urgent need for advertising revenue, fundamentally rewriting the rules of what platforms are commissioning, how they schedule releases, and how they price their services to manipulate consumer behavior.

Bisson opened the session by highlighting how the core drivers of platform growth have evolved dramatically over the last half-decade. ‘A decent TV show would do it five years ago, four years ago. Now pretty much the only thing that moves the needle is live events and sports and really big shows’, he explained, citing the massive anticipation for properties like season five of Stranger Things and season three of Squid Game. However, as platforms increasingly rely on advertising to drive business revenue growth, they face a unique behavioral hurdle.

According to Ampere Analysis data, consumers on ad-supported tiers are significantly harder to retain and monetize than premium, ad-free subscribers. ‘They don’t watch as much as premium viewers’, Bisson noted. ‘They actually watch far fewer days, typically in a month, than an ad-free viewer. And they binge less’.

To combat this lower engagement and satisfy advertisers’ need for broad reach, global streamers are radically shifting their acquisition strategies toward massive catalogs and a heavy reliance on unscripted television. Bisson revealed that unscripted content now accounts for one in every two new commissions from major streamers, soaring from a historical 10% to 20% share up to 50% on some platforms. The economic rationale behind this programming shift is entirely ad-driven: unscripted formats are highly repeatable, suit staggered weekly drops that keep audiences coming back, and are structurally built for commercial breaks. ‘If you’re a programmer, you can squeeze a few more ads in an hour around a short unscripted show than you can around a premium drama’, the executive stated, adding that there are currently about 25% more ads in unscripted content on streamers than in scripted programming.

Read more

LC