New Streaming Strategies From Comcast, Viacom Target Subscribers Who Don’t Need Netflix

Despite what Netflix’s success may lead you to believe, the road to riches in streaming isn’t all about subscriptions.As the shift to digital causes the audience for linear TV to shrink, companies in the media space are increasingly looking to generate revenue via advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) services.NBCUniversal announced last week it plans to launch a streaming service with an ad-supported and ad-free tier in 2020. And during Comcast’s Q4 2018 earnings call on Wednesday, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said the company thinks it “should start and try to gain as much scale as possible with an ad-supported free streaming service,” implying the company is prioritizing the growth of its new streaming service’s free tier over its paid tier.Viacom on Tuesday announced that it agreed to purchase Pluto TV, an AVOD service, for $340 million. Viacom’s ad business will be bolstered by the 12 million monthly active users and additional commercial inventory that Pluto TV offers.