Given that SVOD services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+ seem to dominate the streaming landscape, it may seem that there is not much choice for streaming entertainment beyond Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD). 

Beneath the surface however, a revolution is brewing that creates even more opportunities for viewers to get the content they want and bring about additional monetisation opportunities for media companies’ much loved content libraries that had good TV ratings in the past.

The incredible growth of Smart TV (80% of U.S. households have at least one) in recent years has given rise to a new paradigm of television: FAST TV (Free Advertising Supported Television). 

This is a collection of thematic channels consisting mainly of episodic/procedural library series (which rated well on traditional television e.g. CSI, Friends, Baywatch) as well as movies, news and general entertainment content (reality shows). A great example of this type of channel is the Baywatch channel on Pluto TV, which only features episodes of Baywatch back to back.

FAST TV has the potential to augment traditional TV (and other forms of) advertising, as it is seen as a fundamentally better product in its simplicity, UX, and the ability to do better, more targeted advertising. The content is delivered over the internet into the home, but predominantly on Smart TV ( 95% of FAST TV viewing in the U.S is on Smart TV). It is essentially a VOD product best suited for Smart TV and lean back viewing.

What are some of the benefits of FAST TV for consumers?

One of the great selling features of SVOD services such as Netflix, was that they solved the “paradox of choice” problem for consumers by having fantastic profiling and algorithms that decided what people watch and reduced the lack of decision making ability when faced with so much choice.

After Netflix proved that this model was successful, all the major media companies decided to go “direct to consumer”, and that witnessed an explosion of VOD services in the market. 

The average US household now watch on average 4 VOD services, and ironically spend a lot of time trying to find what to watch. These media companies cannot afford to keep the high content refresh rates and tentpole output that is needed to attain subscribers, and as a consequence customers have developed “SVOD fatigue”.

With FAST TV, content is easy to discover as the channels are broken up into thematic channels and branded stripped TV content channels of mostly procedural shows,  such as CSI. This solves the “paradox of choice” problem as content discovery is easier (you know exactly what you’re watching as the channel is usually clearly branded by theme or content brand )and brings consumers back full circle to the TV watching behaviour that is most comfortable and requires less decision making – “Channel Zapping” – the ultimate “lean back on the couch” experience!

With FAST TV, content is free and easy to watch, as in many cases the app requires no authentication and is already either part of the Connected Tv user interface or can be used without any form of registration and authentication.

Advertising is targeted to the consumers viewing habits and not the “pray and spray” approach of traditional TV. This allows for the viewer to see more tailor-made and interesting ads. This is also done without privacy intrusion as all data collected by FAST TV is anonymous.

Finally, FAST TV delivers a better user experience compared with traditional linear television. The app can be used on any device, such as smartphones, tablets or smart TVs (however, it’s predominantly watched on the couch, and on the big SMART TV screen).

Why does FAST TV work for media companies?

For media companies there are three clear use cases for FAST channels (and they are not mutually exclusive!)

• For some content providers who monetise their content either through pay television or a more bricks and mortar style business – FAST is a 24×7 marketing channel (allowing users to discover what they offer in a casual and serendipitous way) – hourly opportunities to push other product (e.g. Pluto pushes Paramount+, Horse and Country pushes live horse racing channels so they view it as a “barker channel” of sorts)

• Content providers such as Banijay and Fremantle that have 100’’s of 1000’s of hours of unscripted and even scripted very high-brand shows that they can create a stripped channel or thematic channel of. They view this as an incremental revenue stream, and they have put dedicated teams of channel managers and BD people to work, to run the channels and ensure distribution (OEM’s, platforms etc).

• Pure play operators and traditional operators (Cable/Satellite) who are entering the FAST space with a view to leveraging the “massive rise” of CTV.

Deploying a FAST TV channel is relatively inexpensive and provides much richer data for channel managers and ad sales teams to target and optimise the experience. They do not rely on the traditional panel-based approach to audience measurement from traditional broadcastTV as they have very rich data to work with. They can see what’s working and what’s not, and then easily drop or rebuild channel grids.

The Benefits of FAST TV to media companies and content owners.

The initial reaction to FAST TV from some media companies/content owners that are still coming to grips with the concept, is that FAST TV is a form of cannibalisation to both their traditional broadcast or affiliate businesses, as well as their VOD businesses. 

This is in fact not the case, as taking Paramount’s Pluto TV as an example, it is clear to see that the service plays an important role in both promoting their broadcast first window shows, as well as their SVOD service Paramount+. 

The diagram below illustrates these  synergies. 

Follow the money …… FAST! 

It is clear that in some markets, such as the U.S., advertising dollars are already migrating to FAST TV. 

This is not coming from traditional TV advertising, but rather from smaller local advertisers who used to spend money on radio and local media advertising – they now see CTV as a compelling and cost-effective option over radio and print, because the advertising is highly targeted, and at much lower CPM’s to reach their target audience at home on the big screen.

The Future is FAST!

FAST TV is a new way of watching TV that is free, easier and more convenient than traditional SVOD or broadcast TV 

FAST TV channels consist of series and movies from the library, as well as news and general entertainment content delivered over the Internet, primarily for smart TVs, but primarily with popular content that has already aired on TV.

FAST TV has the potential to complement traditional advertising with programmatic and highly targeted ad sales, opening up new opportunities for media companies to monetize and promote their content across different customer groups.

With FAST TV, media companies and content producers have an exciting opportunity to enter the Smart TV growth phenomenon and tap into a growing market that is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to watch TV.

Notes

• Platforms marketing not good. You must have your community and be able to market to it otherwise channel will get lost.
• Marketing should be planned very carefully
• Plugged into communities
• Plug into hobbies and special interests
• There is no industry level data yet at market level
• We have pointers from pure players XUMO (sayings its cord-cutters)
• Over 100min per session
• Platforms keeping data very close to them
• They need to open up a bit more
• Not all channels are custom now
• Now its linear turnaround channel (e.g. Samsung carries RTVE channel in spain)
• The audience drives the premiumness of the content
• As ad dollars go up the content becomes more premium (obv)