Economic uncertainty and ‘fallback’ watching buoys FAST channel growth in Australia
The free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) market in Australia is set to grow further amid economic uncertainty and changing viewer behaviour, which should present an opportunity for advertisers moving forward, according to Variety Intelligence Platform analyst Gavin Bridge.
Bridge, who was in Sydney for last week’s The Future of TV Advertising Sydney event, said the FAST market in Australia is growing off the back of declines in streaming subscriptions, due to economic pressures and the need states of viewers.
Variety Intelligence Platform senior media analyst Gavin Bridge
“If people are watching originals on SVODs (subscription video on demand), they only are watching the most recent season within each episode’s release within some 45 days,” Bridge told Mumbrella.
“No one’s subscribing to Netflix for season one of The Crown. No one’s subscribing to other services for older things. It’s a need state that you become accustomed to coming to an SVOD because you want to watch a new show.
“So you’re now finding that maybe they don’t have all the new shows and I want to cancel, but then FAST has all these channels of shows that I’ve heard of that I like.”
Another contributing factor is viewers treating some content as “fallback” watching, similar to home shopping channels and The Food Network, Bridge added.
“You can’t find anything to watch, so that’s your fallback or default, and we’re seeing that change in content in Australia. It’s becoming a part of the entertainment mix for a lot more people and they’re well aware that the lean back style of programming and removing the choice is a very solidified entertainment format choice, whereas a couple of years ago it wasn’t that.”
Bridge said Australia’s FAST market is well placed for growth due to the large proportion of native FAST operators, saying it was unique among non-US markets.
Some of the local FAST operators include 7Plus, 10 Play, 9Now and Samsung – through its Samsung TV Plus service. The latter in particular saw its FAST offering on its televisions grow from 21 to 96 channels over a two-year period.
Samsung Ads ANZ general manager Alex Spurzem, who also spoke at the Future of TV Advertising Sydney event, told Mumbrella that FAST is “a pretty cool way” to offer innovation on top of the traditional TV experience. “That’s what we’re trying to do and that’s what we are going to continue to build out and grow as a product,” he said.
Bridge said the Australian FAST market has a big upward trajectory despite it still dwarfing the US with 395 unique channels compared to the latter’s 1,628.
“It’s a positive feedback loop that we’re already seeing in Australia with more companies buying in and more viewers turning up because there’s more brands, they recognise more advertisers follow, then more media brands come in because they want in on the cut and it just feeds back quite well for a long time,” Bridge said.
Spurzem said advertisers should consider FAST because of its growing audience and the format’s effectiveness, both relating to economic pressures consumers and advertisers are facing.
“The economic uncertainty of nine consecutive interest rate rises whether we like it or not puts pressure on people’s household entertainment budget, and there’s some data that shows SVODs are tapering off,” he said.
“But we don’t think people will watch any less content, but they will just balance out in terms of how much is subscription-based and how much is advertising supported.”
For advertisers, they’re looking to make every dollar count and they want to know that their budgets are being spent in the most effective way possible, Spurzem added.
How the local operators have fared
Seven had 53 FAST channels at the end of 2022, which was more than double from the start of that year, Seven Network chief digital officer Gereurd Roberts told Mumbrella.
“Seven Network is the leading broadcaster in premium FAST channels in Australia, with more channels than any other free-to-air network. At the end of 2022, Seven had 53 FAST channels, up 117 percent from 24 in January 2022, and more will be added this year,” Roberts said. “Channels devoted to specific hobbies, lifestyles, brands, series, movie genres and so on are particularly popular.”
Gereurd Roberts
Roberts also credited the current economic environment with the growth of its audience.
“The audiences for Seven’s FAST channels have been growing rapidly for over a year now. That isn’t surprising: FAST channels give people instant content, reduce choice fatigue and represent an affordable, accessible alternative as they cut back on Paramount, Netflix, Disney+ and others to cope with the rising cost of living,” he added.
“The growth that we’re seeing around FAST channels is also a result of the fact that they allow people to get into a content genre or an area that they are deeply interested in, without having to make too many choices. It’s a really easy way into content that people care about.”
Roberts said FAST drives audiences, which brings in advertisers which tend to have a broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) strategy.
“From an agency and a revenue perspective, we talk to our clients about the right combination of live, VOD, and FAST to be able to reach the audience that they’re after. We can stitch together the right combination of content across each of those three content pillars in order to reach their target audiences,” he said.
“It helps us demonstrate a better understanding of what it is that our consumers are watching and why. It also allows us to be able to target the right audiences through the right combination of content, regardless of what it is that they’re looking for when they come into the platform.”
Paramount’s 10 Play is also having a strong year, with viewing up 21 percent, and last week was up 60 percent compared to the same period in 2022, according to Paramount ANZ chief sales officer Rod Prosser.
“We also have more than a dozen FAST channels on 10 Play since launching last year and there’s more to come for super fans of curated content,” Prosser said. “FAST channels already represent about 5 percent of total 10 Play minutes and the top performing channels so far have been True Life Crime, Baywatch, Survivor and Retro Cartoons such as CatDog, Ren & Stimpy and so on.”
The platform’s growth was credited to the combination of viewing preferences and content, with audiences choosing what they want to watch, how and when they want to watch it.
“But we’re also ensuring they’re motivated to seek out or catch up on our deep and diverse content slate,” Prosser said. “Whether that’s our popular and engaging tentpole shows or FAST channels with a 24/7 stream of curated content you know you love to watch, we’re offering our audiences an exciting mix of content. The fact that it’s free is just the icing on the cake for audiences.”
Network 10’s chief sales officer, Rod Prosser.
Prosser said Paramount’s digital platforms appeal to advertisers for offering new ways to identify, understand and engage audiences.
“Our first party data can be leveraged to create deep user profiles that can be targeted with innovative, dynamic and interactive premium ad products that extend reach and minimise waste,” he said. “There’s good market engagement in our digital advertising and we have the right leadership in place to help our clients capitalise on this growth area now and into the future.”
FAST? Give me a break. Can we stop renaming stuff just for the hell of it?
User ID not verified.
Have your say