The world of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) is expanding quickly, with many opportunities for
distributors to tap into a large pool of viewers. Initially, FAST was a lucrative opportunity to gain traction on
archived content catalogues that had already been exhausted in multiple windows. Now, as the market becomes more sophisticated and as more businesses join the space, FAST has potentially opened the door to an increasing amount of high-value, branded, and even original content.
The majority of revenue in the Advertising Video on Demand (AVOD) sector comes from the US, and just 10 markets account for over 80% of global revenue. Similarly, with over 1700 unique channels across 14 tracked platforms, the US is leading the way for the developing FAST market. Although FAST revenue is currently smaller than Pay TV and Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD), it is growing at an impressive rate.
FAST is evolving differently across territories. In Europe, for example, Free TV broadcasters are set to become
significant players, leveraging their years of AVOD experience, adjacent digital services, and content rights
to launch new propositions.
FAST activity varies by distributor too. The different ways sellers can get involved are developing differently by
market. They can license content to channels and aggregators, they can launch their own channels and they can partner with platforms as they launch new services.
FAST Platforms are emerging from numerous corners of the industry, with varying perspectives. These range
from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Operating System (OS) providers, who have significant control over the viewing experience, to those backed by major media conglomerates with access to a vast
content pipeline.
In this report 3Vision take a look at the current state of the FAST market – how the landscape is developing, assessing the types of channels, spotlighting distribution/owner activity and profiling platforms.
While waiting for MIPCOM & MIPJUNIOR, check out the full paper of “FAST: Distribution’s Newest Frontier” written by 3Vision 👉
