Everything old is new again, and TV is no exception. In a world where people have endless streaming options at their fingertips, FAST channels are bringing back a time when you didn’t have to spend 15 minutes choosing what to watch while eating dinner.
In America, FAST channels – standing for Free Ad-supported Streaming Television – are expected to generate more advertising revenue than cable, broadcast, or subscription streaming services by 2025. It’s a pattern that may well repeat itself down under.
Mediaweek spoke to Senior Media Analyst at Variety Intelligence Platform, Gavin Bridge, and General Manager, Samsung Ads ANZ, Alex Spurzem ahead of their presentation at The Future of TV Advertising Sydney.
What are some of the differences in the adoption and growth of FAST channels in the Australian market compared to the USA?
Bridge: “The interesting thing about Australia compared to other regions is the number of native services here. Other markets tend to have one native distributor, and everyone else is American – I include Samsung and LG in that, because they started FAST in America. The adoption of FAST in Australia is different from that perspective, because the broadcasters here seem to have a much better handle on it.
“Australia is already piggybacking off of the innovations in America, it’s not starting from the same position. It’s interesting, because it’s not following the same trajectory of growth, it’s able to use the existing growth patterns and innovations which should see faster adoption rates.”
What do you think the appeal of FAST channels is for consumers?
Spurzem: “There are some stats that we look at in terms of how much time it takes to pick your content, and that’s gone up in the last couple of years from seven to nine minutes. You multiply that out, and you spend 100 days of your life deciding what to watch – or to not watch anything, to go to bed and read a book instead.
“That’s where we’ve really seen the FAST model come into its own in terms of the lean back experience that it brings. I don’t think we’ll see the next Queen’s Gambit on FAST anytime soon, but that lean back experience is almost falling by the wayside. Television viewers want back that nostalgia of after a busy day, just flicking through channels.”
What opportunities do FAST channels present for advertisers?
Spurzem: “SVOD growth is tapering off a little bit, I think we see a lot of the consumer base leaning into the free models. The FAST models are really coming into their own in terms of offering an almost nostalgic program experience that isn’t necessarily there – certainly not for those households that we affectionately call the cord-cutters.
“The second thing is that we’re now at a point where the market, including the Australian market, is slowly but surely rebalancing TV budgets. What we find in Samsung households is that 24% of Samsung televisions did not watch any linear, so if you’re only relying on free-to-air, you’re at risk of missing out on one of four people. There’s a similar picture in 41% not watching any YouTube. FAST is a way to find a unique audience that otherwise an advertiser might be at risk of missing out on.”
Bridge: “From watching FAST in America, the way an advertiser can use the IP address and the geolocation facilities is fantastic. In a local election, you can get an ad for whoever is running for your local council. I’m getting I live in New York by the river, which is the border line between New Jersey and New York and not that far from Connecticut, you can watch broadcast TV and get ads for races outside of your state that you can’t even vote on. So there’s a great local ability to run ads.”
What do you anticipate the growth and evolution of FAST channels in Australia will look like?
Spurzem: “We started Samsung TV Plus here about two years ago and it was a relatively modest start. It was 20 odd channels on a million TVs, and that’s now grown to 96 channels on almost two and a half million TVs.
“We see great success with what we call single IP channels – that could be shows like Mythbusters or Bondi Vet. News does really well, we’ve launched Sky News Now, an exclusive FAST channel with Sky News.
“We’ve gone through that evolution from licenced, single IP owned and operated channels to now dedicated FAST channels. That’s not where we’ll stop, but that’s been the evolution to date so far. We’re in a privileged position, we don’t have to repeat all the mistakes and detours that have been made in other markets, because if something works then it’s often a reasonable hypothesis that it works here as well, so we can copy-paste on occasion.”
Bridge: “I would say that you’re going to see a big growth trajectory in channels. You’re going to see more services offering a blend of exclusive channels, but also carrying everyone else’s channels. Back in the US, not all of Pluto’s channels are available outside of Pluto, but a fair number are on Samsung, Xumo, LG, or Vizio.”
See Also: Why FAST channels are speeding up in the Australian market
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Top Image: Gavin Bridge and Alex Spurzem