Aussies choosing not to pay for TV: FAST market booming
Free ad-supported streaming television will be a $480 million market in Australia by 2027, according to a new report commissioned by Samsung Ads.
The Behind the Screens report reveals that Australia is among the top five markets when it comes to the FAST market, with global revenues expected to triple by 2027.
For the uninitiated, FAST channels operate much like traditional free-to-air channels, where the content is played in a linear fashion, intercut with commercials. It cannot be watched on-demand per se (if you miss the start, you miss the start), but is often highly specialised – see the 24/7 Blue Heelers channel for an example.
Australia is behind only the US, UK, and Canada when it comes to FAST revenue, with one in three Australians watching FAST multiple times a week. There’s also a wide variety of content available, as the below list of the various FAST channels by service provider shows.
There are 522 FAST channels available in Australia across the various services (as of September) with 278 unique channels among them – some are duplicated on multiple services. Interestingly, there is a proliferation of single-show channels, such as the aforementioned Blue Heelers channel, with these making up 19% of all channels.
A recent Telsyte study (as quoted by the Samsung study) found that 60% of non-paid Australian streamers believe there is enough quality content streaming on FAST for free to avoid paying for streaming television.
Not surprisingly, sporting FAST channels over-index in Australia compared to the rest of the world, while Samsung also notes that nostalgia is helping older programs offer what Samsung calls “remonetisation options for content players.”
Obviously, Samsung Ads released this report to display the advertising opportunities in this market, noting how “FAST channels super serve consumers interests and provide contextually relevant placements and engaged audiences for advertisers.”
The company does also, however, note the downside: “our already fragmented audiences and TV landscape is about to get more fragmented.”
The tide is already turning, according to Samsung’s own data. 36% of buyers of newly sold 2023 Samsung Smart TVs have chosen not to connect their antenna.
“The adoption of ad-funded streaming suggests the future of TV has more in common with the past than we think,” notes Alex Spurzem, managing director of Samsung Ads Australia.
“The notion of introducing ads after a decade-long ad-free streaming experience would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.
“Yet platforms are now focused on drawing in the widest audience by catering to all wallet sizes. With the rise of TV app based viewing it is important for advertisers to understand the insights and behaviours of these growing streaming audiences.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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