Industry Insights: How monetization models are being rebuilt for streaming-first audiences
As audiences continue to move fluidly between subscription, ad-supported and free streaming environments, broadcasters are rethinking how revenue is created, packaged and sustained.
Part one of this Industry Insights roundtable examines how monetization strategies are shifting in response to changing viewer expectations, advertiser demands and competitive pressure from digital-native platforms.
The discussion explores the rise of hybrid business models, the growing role of FAST and bundled offerings and how first-party data is reshaping the economics of advertising and content distribution.
Together, these perspectives point to an industry moving beyond single-model thinking toward more flexible, audience-driven approaches that aim to maximize revenue without sacrificing viewer experience. This is the first installment in a three-part Industry Insights series on the evolving business of broadcast and streaming monetization.
Key takeaways from this Industry Insights roundtable
- Hybrid models dominate: Broadcasters are combining SVOD, AVOD, FAST and transactional options to serve different audience segments without relying on a single revenue stream.
- Audience-based selling grows: Monetization is shifting from time-based spots to audience- and outcome-driven packaging across linear and streaming platforms.
- FAST gains momentum: Free ad-supported channels are emerging as a major growth engine, extending content libraries and attracting scaled advertiser demand.
- First-party data matters more: Richer subscriber and contextual data is becoming central to pricing, targeting and long-term monetization strategies.
- Trust and transparency lag: Participants note that measurement consistency, data quality and viewer trust remain critical gaps in the monetization conversation.
What is missing from the monetization conversation?
Dave Dembowski, CRO, Operative: Often, broadcasters think in terms of solutions for a very specific need or platform, but a broader approach is going to set the stage for long term success. Advertisers value audiences over screens, broadcasters must think about streamlined monetization across their entire product portfolio — including linear, streaming and digital. It’s important that they build solutions for the future that support convergence using a hybrid approach.