Streaming Video Ad Spend Posts Q2 Gains

A new report from Tinuiti has found that ad spending on streaming video services grew by 13 percent in Q2 as compared with the same period last year.

Growth has slowed considerably since last year, the State of Streaming report indicates, when video advertising on platforms rose by 40 percent. Streaming ad impressions grew by 22 percent in the second quarter, but average CPMs were down 7 percent.

“Across the digital ad landscape, Q2 2021 was a high-water mark for year-over-year spending growth as the comparison then was to the early months of the pandemic a year earlier, a time when many brands pulled back on digital ads,” the report notes. “As a result, year-ago growth comps will ease a bit over the back half of 2022, but it remains to be seen how inflation levels and higher interest rates will shape the economic picture going forward.”

Based on data from the clients of Tinuiti’s Bliss Point Media agency, the report found that spending on Hulu ads was up 22 percent, down from a 45 percent gain last year. Hulu’s average CPM was up 13 percent. HBO Max is seeing above-average CPMs, Tinuiti observes.

Tinuiti is keeping its eye on several trends for the months ahead, including tight inventory due to the U.S. midterm elections, viewership of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video beginning in September and the arrival of Netflix’s ad tier in early 2023.