OTT Question Time #62 – The Economics of FAST

It’s easy to think of FAST as simply a nice-to-have mezzanine floor between legacy scheduled programming and true on-demand viewing. After all, aren’t FAST channels – which are pre-programmed “linear” streams delivered OTT – mainly used by cord cutters who want to retain the experience of having “TV” on in the background? Whilst that might be true, the business opportunity for broadcasters and service-providers is still considerable. 

The research company, Omdia, for example, estimates that FAST channels generated over $4bn in ad revenue in 2021 and will reach $10bn in 2027. Big names like Amazon, Discovery, ITV, Paramount and Samsung all have existing (or upcoming) FAST channels. And although the US remains the primary market, the proliferation of CTV devices and advertising is tightly linked to the growth of FAST in Western Europe. 

We’ll be talking about the rise – and the economics – of FAST at this week’s OTT Question Time (Thursday 11^th August, 4pm UK / 5pm CET / 8am PST). Together with Severine Garusso, Head of Distribution, EMEA, at Canal+, Leon Siotis, Head of International at SpringServe, and Marija Masalskis, Senior Principal Analyst, TV, Video & Advertising at Omdia, we discussed:

• The market demand for FAST services (what they are, how they work, consumer sentiment toward them)
• The benefits of running FAST services to broadcasters and service-providers
• Who’s already successfully running FAST services? How do we quantify success?
• The FAST business opportunity for individual companies (cost / benefit analysis)
• The short / medium / long-term prospects for FAST (how big of a revenue stream could this be over any given period?)

Watch the video below!

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