FAST

A new consumer research study reports that 50% of video-viewing households now use FAST services weekly.

The specials will be part of the Beat the Odds nationally syndicated sports betting and entertainment television series produced by Tupelo Media Group and KVVU. They begin this weekend for college basketball and will also air on dozens of Gray’s stations.

Broadcasters need to harness SSAI cost-effectively to get the most monetization opportunities from the FAST channels they’ve embraced. The ad insertion tech is getting better at helping them.

Initial distributors are Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, Xumo Play, Vizio WatchFree Plus, Sling Freestream and Plex.

The offerings include Entertainment, News, Sports and True Crime channels that will feature past seasons of reality programming including The Real Housewives franchises, true crime and sports content, and acclaimed library series including Murder, She Wrote, The Lone Ranger and Little House on the Prairie. NBC and Telemundo Local FAST channels are set to arrive later this year.

Ads began running this month on scripted series and films on Prime Video, except for subscribers who opt to pay an extra $3 a month in order to avoid ads. Amazon’s approach has differed from that of streaming rivals like Netflix, which rolled out a lower-priced tier with ads as an option instead of forcing those who want to stay ad-free to pay extra.

Viewers may not pay for free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels, but they appear to be paying attention, according to a new report from smart TV maker Vizio and attention research company Adelaide. The report found that FAST channels topped overall connected TV attention benchmarks by 20% to 25%. FAST channels did even better compared to traditional TV channels, outperforming linear by 35% to 40%.

Angela Grande, director of streaming news channels at NBCUniversal Local, says FAST channels represent a unique and powerful opportunity for local news, but choreographing the relationships between stations, platforms and tech partners is a fast-evolving dance. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

TelevisaUnivision and Charter Communications said they reached a new multiyear distribution agreement that includes a version of the premium, ad-supported ViX streaming service that will be available to Charter’s Spectrum cable subscribers at no additional cost.

The NBCUniversal Local FAST channels are growing, well, fast. The 11 ad-supported sites representing NBC stations, which include WNBC New York and KNBC Los Angeles, began their rollout in January 2022, and the four Telemundo regional channels debuted in November 2022. “They watch for longer periods on FAST,” said Meredith McGinn, EVP, NBCU Local Media, multicast networks and original programming, adding that the average is 25-30 minutes.

Jon Nevitt: The proving grounds for the recent evolution of cloud-based broadcast operations has been free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST), a linear TV streaming format that shares many advantages with internet-connected, NextGen TV broadcasting. This convergence of FAST and OTA workflows is an exciting development that gives broadcasters an excellent opportunity to experiment with delivering diverse content over the airwaves.

The agreement, struck in September after a blackout, pulls some of Disney’s streaming services into the linear bundle.

Constant data allows stations to iterate on the fly on their streaming and FAST channels, executives from CBS News & Stations, Fox Television Stations and Gray Television told a NewsTECHForum audience last week.

Recent research shows news outperforms all other categories in the FAST ecosystem, yet another reason for local broadcasters to leverage their content there and on as many CTV platforms as they can.

The addition of Vice News and Vice Fast brings more than 200 hours of programming to the Local Now platform.

Baker Gemma Stafford, whose show on YouTube has 2.7 million followers, is taking her rolling pin to connected TV with plans to launch a FAST channel, the Bold Baking Network, in the first quarter of 2024.

Fubo is bringing AI-powered streaming music audio-only channels to its virtual MVPD service with the help of partner Super Hi-Fi. Fubo on Tuesday announced the launch of 10 fully branded free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel radio stations, collectively dubbed “Fubo Radio,” on its sports-centric live TV streaming platform in the U.S.

The latest entrée from the public TV pantry is now available to stream on Freevee, Plex and Roku.

FAST channels are streaming’s shiny new object, but in reality, TV stations have been in the FAST business for a very long time. Now, as then, the quality of content makes all the difference.

A handful of streaming channels dominate a significant amount of viewing, according to Omdia research.

Executives from NBCUniversal Local, Disney Advertising Sales Local, E.W. Scripps, Tegna and Ticker News shared their insights and experiences in maximizing streaming revenue and the most promising pathways to growth at a TV2025 session. Despite the expected election year bonanza, there are challenges. Among them: the lack of consensus about what currency should be used for transactions.

Platforms do a better job of delivering the right content than some other categories, panelists say.

With access to Lionsgate’s expansive library of titles, the FAST channel will be available on Samsung TV Plus starting on Oct. 11. By the end of the month, Ebony TV will become available on The Roku Channel, Tubi and Amazon Freevee.