Horowitz: U.S. Consumers Turn to FAST for Live TV

According to Horowitz’s State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2025 report, U.S. consumers are increasingly turning to FAST channels for live TV viewing.

Most Americans—85 percent—are watching some live TV. While older viewers use it more (91 percent of the 50-plus set), even 78 percent of 18- to- 34-year olds and 81 percent of those 35 to 49 watch live TV. The study also found that 57 percent of consumers spend at least half of their viewing time with live content, led by news and sports and followed by current episodes of new TV shows.

FAST was the preferred option for live viewing (40 percent), followed by cable/satellite (36 percent), subscription streaming (33 percent), YouTube (19 percent) and virtual MVPDs (16 percent).Younger live viewers (53 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds and 47 percent of consumers ages 35 to 49) are much more likely to use FAST services to watch live TV.

“The rising dominance of FAST services for live TV viewing is an important and welcome development for everyone in the media ecosystem,” noted Adriana Waterston, executive VP and insights and strategy lead for Horowitz Research. “It is critical for the health of the media ecosystem to offset the loss of advertising revenue in the traditional television space, and FAST is providing that path to sorely needed equilibrium. Further, it is giving advertisers a direct route to younger, Gen Z audiences, whom traditional TV advertising has not been effective at reaching.”