The big trend in streaming last year was “FAST.” FAST stands for Free, Ad-supported Streaming TV and I go into detail about it here. You know what I’m talking about. It’s Pluto TV, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and all the other streaming channels you get for free on your smart TV. There are a lot of shows on these channels, and all that’s asked of you is that you watch about 8-10 minutes of commercials an hour. If you’re watching something that originally aired on broadcast TV, that’s half of what you’d get (broadcast TV averages a whopping 22 minutes of commercials an hour.) A lot of folks think that’s a pretty good deal.
Why the FAST revolution is happening
Streaming companies really hit the wall in ’22. Before that, they mostly measured their success by how many people subscribed. That all changed, and now it’s really about net profits. Why? Because companies like Netflix spent billions on expensive original programming that didn’t really increase subscriber numbers.
The first step is that practically every streamer rolled out an ad-supported tier. Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount+ had been doing this for years, and they were joined this year by HBO Max, Disney+, and Netflix. Having a lower tier with ads let people choose to keep their bills low if they wanted. I’m not sure if it’s been successful, since streamers don’t usually post those kinds of numbers. I’m going to guess it wasn’t. The likely answer is that it’s not bringing in enough money, because those same companies are rushing to add FAST to their portfolios.
The way this has been done in the past has been a separate app designed to look like a traditional cable TV guide. Pluto TV has content from Paramount, for example. I’ve championed this model for about four years (here are the receipts.) I think there’s a space for it, and it’s helped to keep older programming available to people.
My prediction: 96% likely to happen with HBO content
Since Discovery bought Warner Bros., they have been savagely cutting content out of HBO Max. This is, according to them, an attempt to right the ship by cutting $4.3 billion from the operating costs of the app. It seems like every day we read of another show canceled or even older content being removed.
It’s a fair bet that we’ll see this content on a new app that’s 100% ad supported. This will allow for this content to be out there in the universe and let it make money from ads. The theory is also that it will allow these older shows to get a whole new audience of people who never wanted to pay for HBO.
I think it’s great, but honestly I still wish the content were also available on HBO Max. Paramount+ has almost all of their older scripted content on the app as well as on Pluto TV. If you pay for Paramount+ without commercials, you’ll get it all commercial free. I think that giving customers a choice is the best way to go.
If you want to stream…
Well, Solid Signal doesn’t sell streaming boxes. They’re too easy to get straight from the manufacturer and so we wouldn’t be able to offer them at a fair price. But if you need any accessories to help with that streaming box installation like cables or Wi-Fi infrastructure, we’re here for you! Shop at Solid Signal and you’ll get everything you need! If you need help or support, call us at 888-233-7563 or just fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you!
