Top 5 Must-haves for FAST Channels

FAST stands for free, ad-supported, streaming TV services, which is a rapidly growing OTT monetisation business model. 

FAST combines advertising and scheduled TV to provide viewers with a subscription-free streaming option. This is essentially linear television presented in a familiar lean-back program guide style, available without a subscription and funded by advertising revenue.

In contrast to a subscription model, FAST channels are able to offer linear streaming services for free by dynamically inserting advertisements into the ad breaks. Typically, FAST channels are found on connected televisions (CTVs) or are device-agnostic. Many also aggregate third-party content with their O&O (owned-and-operated station) content.

Most Popular FAST Services

There are many well-known FAST platforms in the market, such as Xumo, Pluto, Roku Channel, Peacock, LG TV, and Samsung TV Plus.

The difference between AVOD and FAST

While AVOD refers to streaming services that offer their viewers the option to watch any content in their video library on demand in exchange for watching ads, FAST offers linear channels that are supported by advertisements. In other words, FAST operates like traditional linear TV. Instead of specific content, users choose which channels they'd like to watch.

Why is FAST Growing So Quickly?

According to a June 2022 report released by Omdia, FAST channels generated over $4 billion in ad revenue in the United States alone in 2021. FAST is less mature in Western Europe but is forecasted to be worth $1 billion USD by 2025. The Omdia report attributes this rise to the growth of cord-cutting and CTVs. The reasons for this growth include:

• SVOD allows users to choose what to watch, but there is often too much choice. In contrast, FAST offers a linear experience, selecting content for you.
• SVOD price fatigue is a growing concern for consumers.
• The user finds no content and then moves on to another service after watching what they initially came to watch.
• Local Station Groups with specific content licensing windows are looking to recreate region-specific streaming channels for OTT distribution, with the feel of broadcast channels and the ability to drive local ads.
• Repurposing of idle capital. FAST allows channels to be spun up at low cost, enabling operators to create channels of archived content. The Bob Ross or Baywatch channels are examples of this.
• Ability to create marketing vehicles to coincide with other events, such as the Elvis channel launched across FAST platforms by Cinedigm, timed with the release of the new Baz Luhrmann movie “Elvis”.
• A rapid and broad distribution of content across FAST platforms.
• Potential for Targeted Advertising with high CPMs.

The 5 Core Components of a FAST Channel

If your organisation aims to dive into the fast-growing FAST market, there are some core technology and business decisions you'll have to make.

FAST Channels can be created through the implementation of these 5 key technologies: 

1. Content

   FAST channels, given their low cost and easily monetizable nature, provide a vehicle for the distribution of all types of content: from news to sports, and even niche archive or deep library content. The distribution model allows for the repurposing of content that otherwise may have stood idle. Generally, channel owners are trying to distribute their FAST Channels broadly across services, adopting a model similar to Cable or Satellite TV, rather than limiting themselves to a single destination. More SVOD services are also adding FAST channels to their catalogue to help find and attract new audiences, and this trend is expected to continue.

2. FAST Platform

   In most cases, FAST Channels are delivered to existing platforms that provide a TV-like viewing experience. That means that a FAST channel is added to an existing aggregate of channels, for example, on Samsung TV Plus, LG TV, Roku Channel, Pluto, Xumo, and more.

3. Scheduling System / Playout

   FAST utilises a traditional linear viewing model; therefore, the scheduling system is a key building block of the solution. This EPG-like output determines what content is played out and when.

4. SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion)

   With SSAI, ads are stitched into the video stream on the server-side before it is sent to the viewer's device. This approach enables seamless transitions between content and ads, resulting in a faster and smoother viewing experience. Additionally, SSAI provides better control over ad placement, allowing targeted advertising and reducing ad repetition for viewers. Overall, SSAI is a necessary tool for creating fast channels that provide a high-quality viewing experience for users while maximising revenue for content providers.

5. Ad Platform

   The Ad Platform is an amalgamation of multiple functions in a workflow and can be built of multiple parts; from Ad Decisioning, Ad Ops, Ad Sales, Campaign Management, to Ad Serving, among others. Its role in FAST is to manage the advertising inventory, frequency, and serve the SSAI solution as needed with the right advertising content, creating a seamless experience between VOD assets and the video Ads.

How to launch a FAST channel with Vimond

Vimond VIA enables the launch of FAST channels by seamlessly integrating a workflow of the critical components. Centred around the VIA video CMS, which enables the management and curation of content, both through editorial manipulation and automated creation through SmartLists. Scheduling information is supplied either through EPG ingest or through an XML-based integration to the external scheduling system. Advertising points are inserted through chapter index points, which can be inserted through the VIA UI or fed in as metadata. SCTI markers can also be used to queue ad points, as inserted into the manifest.

A mechanism for manifest manipulation then combines the curated assets with the advertising queue points to create a new live manifest. Advertising segments are triggered by the queue point and are inserted into the manifest via SSAI, which makes calls to the advertising network to fetch the proper advertising video segments. The output is a linear HLS channel which can be terminated to an existing FAST Platform or within the application envelope of an existing SVOD service.