Streaming Ad Market to Reach $138 Million in 2001

According to research company DFC Intelligence (www.dfcint.com), the streaming advertising market will generate $138 million in 2001. Despite this good news, advertising is expected to be in less than 10 percent of the streams served.

The report's author, Paul Palumbo, said that the relatively small size of streaming advertising parallels revenue growth in other media. "Cable TV advertising was worth only $50 million in 1980. Today it is worth over $13 billion," he said. "There continues to be substantial growth in streaming usage for both audio and video programming, and these are loyal users. Because advertising in streaming media can be a very effective way to reach a highly targeted and qualified audience, we see strong long-term growth potential for this market, particularly for cross-platform brands."

The report says that over the next few years, rich media advertising is forecasted to surpass other forms of online advertising. It also found that about 63 percent of Internet audio broadcasters have actually deployed, or have the capability to deploy, in-stream advertising. The report also states that about 24 percent of video-centric destinations and sites have deployed ad-insertion capability.

According to Palumbo, there are an average of 165-185 million video ad opportunities per month, with CPMs ranging from $30-$120. Nevertheless, in-stream video ads are forecast to only represent about 30 percent of total streaming advertising this year.

The company is touting (and selling) its 300-page report, "Streaming Ad Insertion and Commerce," showing case studies and an analysis of ad buying.