Are Niche Free Streaming Channels Going to Be Crowded Out in Next Wave of FAST Evolution?
There can be no doubt that ad-supported streaming is here to stay. It’s part of the traditional TV experience that viewers were eager to leave behind in streaming’s early days, but now price concerns are driving both customers and providers to welcome commercials back into the streaming formula.
According to a recent survey, 25% of all streaming subscriptions in the first half of 2023 were for ad-supported plans. Sixty percent of U.S. adults say they’d be willing to watch an ad-supported streaming plan in exchange for a lower price point, and one in three viewers say they’re signed up to at least one free ad-supported streaming platform like Pluto TV or The Roku Channel.
The number of free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels offered in the United States has grown to more than 1,500. To start differentiating their content from the thousands of other FAST channels available, providers of free streaming channels have started putting their branding in the channel title. According to Variety, the number of FAST channels that use their provider’s brand in the title has grown 66% in the past three years.
The era of branded FAST channels is just beginning, too. Warner Bros. Discovery now offers branded FAST channels under the WBtv name on Tubi, and is planning to launch a FAST service of its own once it has Max running just the way the company wants.
Netflix executives have also discussed creating FAST channels in the future, and any such channels would almost certainly feature the Netflix brand front-and-center. As more of the top streaming services enter the FAST space, branding will become an even more critical component as users will have a harder and harder time telling the difference between channels and platforms.
But what does that mean for smaller, niche streaming channels that got into FAST in the first place because it was a way to super-serve particular audience subsets? Unfortunately, these channels might be the first to go in the new FAST world order. FAST channels are relatively inexpensive to operate, but they still require viewers in order to justify advertisers paying to have their products shown on that channel.
This is not a problem FAST users need to be worried about today. Branded FAST channels still represent a small subset of the FAST universe overall, and WBD and Netflix are both months or years away from developing free streaming platforms of their own. But as more channels are born, the competition for viewers gets fiercer, and eventually niche channels might see themselves pushed out of the market to make room for FAST channels from bigger providers.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.