Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Free ad-supported streaming TV in the United States - statistics & facts
Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) has been surging in the last few years, especially in the saturated U.S. market, where subscription-based services such as Netflix and Disney+ struggled recently. As a reaction to increasing subscription fees in uncertain economic times, more and more consumers are choosing to switch to lower-cost ad-supported streaming options. In fact, a forecast estimated that by 2027 the number of U.S. FAST users will grow to nearly 80 million. The streaming segment, which features freely available linear programming in exchange for watching commercials, has not only caught the attention of consumers, but also of content owners and marketers.
However, with the FAST market getting crowded and complex, exclusive content is also becoming a unique selling point. Platforms that are owned by big media and technology players could have an advantage here as shows they produce can appear on their own FAST services, such as The Roku Channel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” which was recently crowned with eight Emmy nominations. Indeed, free streaming services producing own content has an impact for nearly half of FAST consumers and 30 percent of non-FAST users to watch.
There is no doubt that FAST plays an important role in the future of television and streaming. Viewership and recognition, as well as services, will probably further grow, and companies will extend their operations to other markets worldwide. In addition to that, FAST will certainly become a feature of several streaming services, allowing the latter to offer a variety of payment and content delivery options to their customers.
Paid on-demand vs. no-cost linear streaming
While FAST relies on a completely different monetization model and content delivery method than subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), it also offers other typical content: niche and special interest channels, as well as older licensed TV shows and movies. For example, movies that first premiered over five years ago and episodes from TV shows that are no longer running were the most watched content types on Pluto TV, Tubi, and Xumo. Furthermore, FAST services are used as a source of news, with news accounting for 30 percent of total FAST viewing hours.However, with the FAST market getting crowded and complex, exclusive content is also becoming a unique selling point. Platforms that are owned by big media and technology players could have an advantage here as shows they produce can appear on their own FAST services, such as The Roku Channel’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” which was recently crowned with eight Emmy nominations. Indeed, free streaming services producing own content has an impact for nearly half of FAST consumers and 30 percent of non-FAST users to watch.
Growing demand among advertisers
The rapid expansion of FAST in the U.S. has also attracted more marketers who have increasingly recognized the value of these platforms. A forecast suggests that ad revenues of FAST will steadily grow in the years to come. The advantage is clear: as streaming platforms can be directly integrated into connected TV user interfaces, advertisers can now target their ads to potential customers by filtering by preferences and demographics. Another benefit of FAST for advertisers is that audiences tolerate ads in the streaming environment. According to a late 2022 survey, 37 percent of U.S. viewers thought that FAST services aired a reasonable number of ads. Meanwhile, the majority of respondents did not accept the volume of ads on traditional TV platforms.There is no doubt that FAST plays an important role in the future of television and streaming. Viewership and recognition, as well as services, will probably further grow, and companies will extend their operations to other markets worldwide. In addition to that, FAST will certainly become a feature of several streaming services, allowing the latter to offer a variety of payment and content delivery options to their customers.
