RICK YOUNG: The biggest differentiation in a crowded marketplace will come to those investing in channels with fresh, live and localised programming on a regular basis. Live programming, especially news and sports, VERITY BUTLER: What are the most exciting opportunities to look out for in FAST?
with a regional or local flavour has proven to be
both a viewership driver and differentiator in a market filled with too many channels packed with re-runs of library content.
VERITY BUTLER: Are FAST channels a successful evolution of linear TV?
ROB GAMBINO: International expansion, especially to underserved markets like LatAm and
MARK STRACHAN: There are a number of factors that have driven the rise in FAST channels. Firstly, increased cost-of-living expense has resulted in people looking to reduce their number of subscriptions, and streaming platforms are finding that the economics related to the cost to acquire a subscriber versus how much a subscriber would pay, and very high churn rates, no longer make sense. Secondly, the problem of discoverability on SVOD is resulting
KEVIN PARKS: Absolutely! Not long ago, many in the M&E industry predicted the death of linear TV as almost any show was available on demand. We all now know that searching through endless titles on an on-demand platform isn’t always what viewers want to do. Leaning back and having a curated experience where someone else picks the shows and the viewer watches whatever is on is still desirable. FAST channels are an evolution of linear TV because
APAC. We see huge interest from local populations, but the specifics need to be worked out. Live sports – you already saw the Super Bowl streamed online for free, and that’s one of the biggest events there is. Some of the World Cup was available for free in some markets. We’re already talking to Tier 1 sports organisations to bring more sport online with ad-supported business models. Personalisation – with AVOD already successful, and machine learning getting to the point where it can make good suggestions, I think we’ll see the first purely personalised FAST channels popping up in the next year or two. KEVIN PARKS: Variety pointed out several massive opportunities in an article a few months ago which I agree with. Large AVOD platforms like YouTube will ultimately deploy FAST channels (which they’ve started to experiment with), and large content owners with deep libraries will create many more FAST channels over the next couple of years.
in viewers simply not watching TV. Today’s audience is looking for a
they expand where viewers can look to see what’s on. ROB GAMBINO: We were always going to end up at FAST – it was a market inevitability. You can see at every step of the way, the
“MANY INTHE INDUSTRY PREDICTED THE DEATH OF LINEARTV”
more lean-back and cost-effective way of watching curated, personalised content. With all this in mind, I’d say that while FAST channels are a successful evolution of linear TV, the place for ad-supported broadcast linear TV will continue to exist, especially where internet connectivity is poor or costly. In addition, there’s still a place for premium content subscription linear TV, though the market for this is diminishing because of the proliferation of SVOD providers. In addition, it’s unlikely that FAST channels will replace the premium content on-demand services.
top platforms have navigated the balance of what’s possible versus what viewers want to see. Ad loads remained reasonable, content stayed fresh – and the market segment continues to grow, both in hours of content viewed and revenue made. SRINIVASAN KA: We believe that it is and will be the future of streaming. It’s the perfect blend of easy, lean-back viewing, with great content offered free of cost.
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