FAST Festival Recap

Amid SVOD woes, continued cord-cutting and challenging macroeconomic trends that are dampening global ad forecasts, FAST has emerged as a considerable bright spot for companies from across the ecosystem, from distributors shoring up valuable additional revenues from library titles to AVOD platforms using FAST channels to deepen engagement to broadcasters and legacy pay channels eyeing a lucrative opportunity to reach viewers in a new (and yet old) way to the tech companies that have emerged to help everyone navigate this new space.

As we continue to build our successful portfolio of virtual events, we knew the FAST sector was one we wanted to take a deep dive into, and that’s precisely what we did over three days last week, covering every sector of this emerging landscape. If you missed any of these sessions, you can catch up on them at FastFest.tv.

Over several keynote sessions, we heard from the world’s leading FAST channel platforms. Olivier Jollet, executive VP and international general manager at Pluto TV, discussed what’s been driving the gains at Paramount’s AVOD service, which marks its tenth anniversary in 2024. While all markets are different, with varying degrees of free-TV offerings for consumers, interest in FAST crosses geographical boundaries for several reasons, Jollet explained, including the lean-back experience, “ease of use and the content bandwidth you can have. At a time when traditional TV channels are going more mainstream, FAST can serve specific audiences, even niche audiences that are underserved by traditional television but also underserved by SVOD services.”

Samsung TV Plus has been building a robust content offering over its global footprint. On day two of the FAST Festival, we heard from Jennifer Batty, head of acquisitions in Europe, and Aline Jabbour, business development director for Latin America. Batty said the company looks to deliver about 120 channels in each territory in Europe. “We see that as a little bit of a sweet spot. It gives a wide variety of content; not too much, but enough that there is a wide assortment.” Batty also pointed to the broad demographics Samsung TV Plus needs to serve. “We need to ensure that we have a wide, diverse offering of local content and then bring in some of the best international content.”

In Latin America, too, the core focus has been on delivering channels with a strong local identity, broad appeal and an experience that goes beyond just entertainment to provide a window into the world. Dubbed content is key, Jabbour added.

Per Nielsen’s The Gauge, Tubi has emerged as the leading FAST channel operator in the U.S. Adam Lewinson, chief content officer, told delegates about how its 200-plus FAST channel lineup complements its on-demand offering. The FOX Corporation-owned service sees FAST channels as an opportunity to deliver lean-back entertainment and promote content sampling, such as its Tubi Originals channel. The platform has also fared well with its Gordon Ramsay channel and has been expanding its sports lineup, delivering channels with FIFA, NFL and more. “That’s been a great way to broaden our audience.”

In Europe, Rakuten TV has been steadily building its slate of FAST channels. Marcos Milanez, chief content officer, said the platform’s content needs depend on the genre. For example, it has several branded, owned-and-operated movie channels already, so there’s less of a need for third-party FAST services in that category. “It needs to bring some sort of differential so that we don’t add an overlap to the lineup or just cannibalize our existing channels. For other genres, it also comes down to: Is that content relevant to those local markets? Has that channel or programs within that channel been broadcast into free or pay TV before in the market? Does it have a strong following from the local audiences?”

Zone·tv is looking to deliver the next generation of FAST with its AI-informed technology solutions, CEO Jeff Weber told viewers on the last day of the festival. “Using machine learning to personalize is how we curate. If you’re a customer watching a show, and you love it and want more like it, you zone·ify, and then we use our machine learning, take the enhanced metadata that we’ve created and start to personalize a channel specifically for you.”

For distributors of scale in the U.S. and Europe, FAST presents a wealth of opportunities to create owned-and-operated channels, single-IP ones and multi-genre propositions.

From the Hollywood perspective, we heard from Matt Schnaars, president of content distribution at NBCUniversal, about the company’s FAST channel expansion on day one of the festival. This new collection of channels, Schnaars said, should allow the company to “reach a whole new section of consumers on these platforms that might not be watching in other places. It’s important to note that we’re utilizing a lot of content produced long ago that’s not being monetized in the ecosystem otherwise. We’re not taking the same thing we’re putting on cable channels, broadcast networks or Peacock and just putting it on a FAST platform.”

It’s a similar scenario for Warner Bros. Discovery, according to David Decker, president of content sales, who noted that the company has yet to do any single-IP brands but is considering some to sit alongside its genre services, which primarily reside in the non-scripted space. On catering to niche audiences in FAST, Decker noted: “It gives us a chance to allow those viewers who want to go deeper into one of our genres or categories to do that. That had previously been harder for us because, in a licensing business, you tend to be a bit more of a generalist and a little less of a specialist.”

Jens Richter, CEO of commercial and international at Fremantle, addressed that company’s approach to curating and expanding its lineup of owned-and-operated channels. The number one consideration when mulling if a show is suitable for FAST is recognition, Richter explained. “FAST is a relatively new space. You want to put channels out where the brands are easily recognizable by your audience. Number two is, FAST means you have to fill a linear schedule. You need at least 200 hours of programming. It’s a game of the right shows, volume, scheduling and refresh rates. You need to constantly put something up and then think about engaging with your audience.”

We heard a similar refrain from the panelists in our opening Distribution Might session with ITV Studios’ Graham Haigh, Cineflix Rights’ Mike Gould, Banijay Rights’ Shaun Keeble and All3Media International’s Gary Woolf, with each offering up their expertise on approaching single-IP and multi-genre brands.

For distributors that don’t have thousands and thousands of hours in their catalogs, there are other ways to market in the FAST space, outside of investing in your own channels. FilmRise has emerged as the leading independent operator of FAST channels and apps in the U.S. and works with a wealth of content partners on its sizable slate of services. Max Einhorn, senior VP of acquisitions and co-productions, covered curation, deal structures, the approach to acquisitions and more in his keynote session. “Generally, we’re licensing all digital or ad-supported streaming rights, including FAST. What’s important to distinguish FilmRise from others participating in this space is that we are a full-fledged, full-service distributor with the largest footprint outside the major studios. Our partners derive value from our business across the full spectrum of monetization methods.”

Companies with a legacy in operating pay-TV channels are now bringing their expertise into the FAST space, and we heard from two such operators at the FAST Festival. Haymi Behar, chief marketing and digital officer at SPI International, told delegates about the CANAL+ Group-owned company’s suite of Smart Channels. “When we established that choice fatigue is a real issue, we started promoting our linear channels more because they’re curated and designed to allow people to enjoy the content.”

Lightning International now has a suite of 12 FAST channels across multiple genres. “FAST is giving us a bit of a lift in a different area of our business,” CEO James Ross said in his keynote session. “As the advertising grows with the FAST channels, it is increasingly important to all of us to balance perhaps a slight downturn in pay-TV revenues. We’re very optimistic about it.”

Given the über-niche appeal of so many FAST channels, we assembled several sessions last week that drilled deep into specific genres. As our FAST Facts panel showed, factual distributors are seeing a significant boost from AVOD services. Autentic’s Patrick Hörl, Blue Ant International’s Solange Attwood and Albatross World Sales’ Lisa Schelhas discussed the challenges and opportunities, including managing deliverables. In our session on indie film distributors, we heard from Nicely Entertainment’s Scott Kirkpatrick and Candlelight Media Group’s Scott Wiscombe on the appeal of TV movies in FAST. And we explored the kids’ segment in two keynote sessions. Common Sense Networks CEO and co-founder Eric Berger showcased how the company serves kids and families across Sensical-branded assets, including three FAST channels. “FAST is increasing tremendously, but the kids’ sector is lagging in terms of monetization,” he said. “Brands are concerned about trust, privacy issues and a lack of standards. We believe that we offer solutions that work not only for kids and families but also for brands and platforms. This is true on FAST channels as well as across other media.”

Chris M. Williams, the founder and CEO of pocket.watch, told FAST Festival delegates about how the company’s two FAST channels help drive awareness of its YouTube-originated kids’ and family brands. “When we started seeing services like Samsung TV Plus and Pluto TV growing, we said, We should be there. We like that these are walled gardens. When extending these massively popular creators’ IP into other areas, we don’t focus on the open platforms like Facebook or Snapchat. We focus on these walled gardens because we know there will be limited choices, and you want to be curated into those services. FAST was providing a new way of doing that. We want to bring kids and families the creator content they crave in ways that parents and the FAST channel platforms can embrace.”