Cover Story the added audience addressability opportunities offered by digital ,” advises Magnite ’ s Wilson . “ This means streaming TV is a great tool for advertisers looking to reach wide segments or more specific audiences . The prospect of being able to more accurately reach target consumers with the premium sight , sound and motion offered in a CTV environment is highly attractive to advertisers .” GRANULARITY . “ Targeted advertising has been shown to substantially increase the CPM , so yes , it does increase the size of the pie ,” acknowledges MediaKind ’ s Wilson . “ Of course , it ’ s not possible to do it everywhere , and there is a question about the level of granularity for targeting . However , there is no doubt that targeted ads lead to more advertising spend .”
“ The pie is growing ,” asserts De Lanny . “ Advertising spend , especially on TV , is increasing drastically year on year . However , money is moving away from traditional TV into new areas like Connected TV because of the shift in consumption towards these platforms and the growing addressability they offer .”
“ Advertising spend on certain types of ad platforms is growing , but , in general , that growth is down to a shift of budget away from other places rather than the advertising pie getting significantly bigger ,” suggests Gauthier . “ For example , cinema , out-of-home , and audio advertising have all lost share to digital over the years . So , if you work in the digital space , it is fair to say that the advertising pie has been getting bigger . Connected TV has seen significant growth in ad spend for good reason – it combines the bigscreen viewing experience of TV advertising with the targeting capabilities of digital advertising .”
“ It depends on how you look at the pie ,” admits Mangel . “ The pie for TV advertising , where TV is defined as long-form content that is professionally produced , it will get bigger . But if we are looking globally at the digital advertising space , it ’ s the same pie , at least in total . With the latest targeted advertising techniques , we ’ re seeing smaller advertisers get into TV advertising for the first time because they ’ re able to reach a more segmented audience .” EXPERIENCE . As to what the boom in FAST channels says about how viewers like to consume content , Di Giacomo suggests it underscores the classic paradox of choice . “ The number of on-demand options available for consumers is overwhelming . The rapid growth of FAST illustrates that consumers also value the option of a true lean-back experience alongside VoD content options ,” he adds .
“ FAST is still a very small part of the market
in terms of consumption ,” advises Bisson . “ It ’ s growing . If you analyse the content on FAST , there isn ’ t much . If you go to an event where content owners are talking about how they can launch a FAST channel , the adage in the industry is that you need a catalogue of 60 to 100 hours of content at the low end . It tells you that there ’ s not much content on them and that it gets repeated a lot . Frankly , half of the channels out there are based on a single show franchise . It ’ s very niche . It ’ s a very different experience for a typical thematic linear channel which has got a much greater diversity of content in it .” TARGET . “ The growth of FAST suggests that linear TV is far from dead ,” observes Dodman . “ Viewers are still comfortable consuming content in channels they like , although they don ’ t have control over programming . Advertisers have an opportunity to leverage this , and reach their target audiences with highly-personalised ads that genuinely resonate with them .”
“ It shows that audiences still enjoy the leanback experience of traditional linear TV ,” says Friedlander . “ Some might argue that a sense of ‘ choice fatigue ’ from utilising on-demand services has led many consumers to pivot back to the traditional linear-style viewing that FAST offers . But as far as the viewer is concerned , it looks just like TV , and they ’ ve consumed content in that way for years .”
“ Users still want the lean-back , main screen experience ,” agrees Gambino . “ There was a presumption among some analysts that mobile devices were going to unseat the main screen , but it has not happened . In fact , we haven ’ t even seen trending that tells us that ’ s going to happen any time soon . Even when consuming VoD , whether SVoD or AVoD , people tend to binge watch when they can .”
“ As the world continues to try to correct inflation and other economic hardships from the pandemic , it ’ s also coming in tandem with rising SVoD costs – making free TV more enticing for consumers ,” suggests Robertson , who points out that data shows consumers have positive feelings about FAST channel ads , because FAST ads are generally
“ FAST ads are generally shorter and of higher quality than traditional TV ads .” – Blair Robertson , InnovidXP shorter and of higher quality than traditional TV ads .” QUALITY . “ They want content but don ’ t want to break the bank by paying for it ,” notes Wale . “ Our recent research found that 64 per cent of CTV watchers prefer seeing ads to paying more for a subscription service , especially if the ads were more relevant to their needs . Additionally , consumers like FAST channel ads because they are generally shorter and of higher quality than traditional TV ads .”
“ With the boom of AVoD , barriers to entry for advertisers have become low .” – Katy Dodman , Finecast
“ FAST channels are an extremely attractive option to both streaming providers and audiences in economically challenging times ,” states Magnite ’ s Wilson . “ Audiences have access to free , high quality content which is curated for them by the streaming provider . This means there is no burden on their wallets while also reducing the content fatigue that can come from needing to choose which content to consume and when .”
“ In today ’ s streaming landscape , viewers are looking for a convenient and straightforward viewing experience ,” notes MediaKind ’ s Wilson . “ Curated content and binge-watching options have gained popularity as they provide viewers with a pre-selected line-up of content . The rise of FAST channels , which are free but ad-supported , suggests that viewers are willing to endure ads for curated content , especially for niche audiences that would not support a more conventional linear distribution model .” ACCESSIBLE . “ On the one hand , television content is becoming more accessible on FAST channels ,” says De Lanny . “ For example , The Walking Dead is available to watch on Roku . DAZN is streaming the Champions League Final . It ’ s creating the perfect storm . The content quality is high , the viewership is growing due to economic reasons and the change in the way younger generations are approaching TV , and you can get all this for free if you ’ re happy to be shown ads , because they are paying for the content .”
“ Lean-back linear viewing experiences remain popular , whether in a broadcast or a streaming format ,” notes Gauthier . “ It also suggests that viewers are interested in innovations around how that content is packaged into a linear 24 / 7 experience . FAST channels have shown that experimenting with channel line-ups – having channels dedicated to a single series , for example - can really engage viewers .”
“ The boom we are seeing in FAST is partly related to the growing consumer demand for free content . In addition , the growth of FAST channels demonstrates that viewers like passive , linear viewing experiences ,” agrees Mangel .
18 EUROMEDIA