may june | Page 13

Study: More US households are turning to FAST content

Wurl, a specialist in the streaming TV industry, has released The CTV Trends Report – a collection of datadriven insights into the forces shaping the connected TV( CTV) industry. This edition offers marketers a detailed look at how adoption of free, ad-supported streaming channels is evolving in the US, with more viewers tuning in, engaging longer with content, and creating new opportunities for advertisers

With advertisers seeking more efficient ways to reach audiences, the report highlights why free streaming channels are becoming an increasingly important part

of any media mix. As more premium content becomes available within free channels, viewers are not only watching more, but they’ re staying longer – supporting a dramatic increase in the hours of viewing, and corresponding ad opportunities. Key findings from the report include:

• More households are tuning in and watching longer: The number of monthly active households watching free, ad-supported channels grew 12 per cent year-over-year, while average daily hours of viewing per household climbed 16 per cent, producing a 29 per cent increase in total viewing time across platforms.

• Deeper engagement: Viewers are not only watching more but they’ re also staying more engaged. Average channel session duration increased 25 per cent, and viewers are also exploring more channels than they did a year ago.

• Genre diversity offers reach and precision: Reality, Drama, and Documentary dominate viewership, while News maintains a steady share and spikes during major events such as the 2024 presidential election. Premium inventory remains available: As audiences continue to shift and watch more free streaming channels, advertisers have not yet fully caught up. Ad fill rates are still lower than in previous years

– signaling there is untapped opportunity in a market that’ s moving in the right direction.

As audiences expand, tune in for longer, and engage more deeply, publishers are increasingly adopting new and creative targeting strategies to attract more demand.

“ As the streaming landscape continues to evolve, free streaming TV is proving itself to be an efficient and high-performing channel,” commented Dave Bernath, CEO, Wurl.“ We’ re seeing significant growth in both audience scale and engagement. At the same time, premium ad inventory remains available, which means advertisers have a unique opportunity to secure high-impact placements as the market continues to mature.”

composition of adults 18-34 with its streams, NBC attracts a comparable number of adults 18-34. ABC and ESPN average the highest number of viewers in that demographic.

By understanding how the unique age profiles of each platform might attract different advertisers, or, how, together, they can serve to extend the reach for the same brand, the NBA has increased its viewership by 18 per cent so far this season.

• Sports accounted for nearly 30 per cent of all ad supported TV viewing among adults ages 25-54 in Q4 2025. These insights come as the share of time that viewers spend with ad supported TV continues to climb. Per Nielsen’ s latest Ad Supported Gauge, the medium represented 74.2 per cent of overall TV viewing in Q4 2025, which also marked its highest point throughout all of 2025. Compared to Q3 2025, ad supported viewing was also up 9 per cent, outpacing the 7 per cent increase in total TV viewing, as football and young adults helped drive this surge.

“ With upfront and newfront season upon us, we took an even closer look at FAST and AVoD to uncover new areas of growth as ad supported TV viewing evolves,” commented Nielsen Data Communications Director Brian Hughes.“ We found that each pillar of ad supported TV offers something to help brands meet their goals, and when used together, the opportunities have the potential to multiply.”

Gracenote: News, horror driving FAST momentum Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, has expanded its Data Hub resource to include insights on nearly 1,850 active FAST channels for an understanding of global streaming trends and the programmes that keep audiences engaged. According to analysis of Gracenote’ s global video dataset, the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14 per cent from Q1 2025 and 76 per cent since 2023. These insights and more are captured in the latest release of the Gracenote Data Hub covering Q3 2025. The addition of FAST insights to the Gracenote Data Hub makes possible new comparisons with SVoD content and a holistic view of the global streaming	landscape. First launched in November 2024, the resource was developed to provide insight into the catalogues of the major SVoD players: Prime Video, Apple TV +, Disney +, Netflix and Paramount +. Now, the enhanced Data Hub enables visibility into more than 645K TV, movie and sports programmes and episodes on SVoD platforms and more than 197K programs across global FAST channels. Notably, FAST channels offer a greater percentage of more recent content than SVoD services. Nearly half of current FAST programming was produced in the last five years compared to nearly one third on premium SVoD. Focusing on content produced in the last 15 years, the numbers jump to nearly 80 per cent for FAST and	68.5 per cent for SVoD. Given the linear, scheduled nature of FAST channels, the prevalence of TV programming is significant. In fact, nearly 93.1 per cent of available content on FAST is TV programming( when individual episodes are counted). Comparatively, 88.8 per cent of available content on top SVoD services is TV programming. Sports accounted for the largest increase among all content types for SVoD in the last three months, a jump of 13.2 per cent. By comparison, movie content on SVoD grew 10 per cent while TV content increased 9.2 per cent. Focusing on FAST, sports programming was down 3.7 per cent over the same period but up 14 per cent year-to-date. Other findings in the Data Hub update include:	• Focusing on FAST genre composition, documentary accounted for the largest concentration of programming at 16.1 per cent • Drama was the second most prevalent genre at 10.6 per cent while news was third at 9.9 per cent • Looking at FAST genre growth, news led all categories with a 37 per cent programming increase followed by horror with a 30 per cent increase • In terms of SVoD, major platforms grew their overall content offerings by 9.8 per cent in the last three months • Prime Video added the most titles quarter-overquarter( 12.6 per cent) followed by Paramount +( 6.4 per cent)
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