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Free Ad Supported TV (FAST): A

CONNECTED TV

How CTV is Changing

Guide to Free Streaming Services Advertising for Performance

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Sure, streaming services have a lot of buzzy content. But what’s better than TV you have to pay for? Free
TV! Read on to learn more about free ad-supported TV—which is admittedly a lot like old-fashioned TV, but
with a lot of new tech that makes it extremely compelling to viewers and advertisers alike.

What is Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST)?

What is a FAST channel and how does it work? A FAST channel is a streaming format that is free to the
viewer because it’s supported by ads. It’s pretty close to the old days of network viewing, but FAST
channels are rapidly gaining in popularity, with over 1400 FAST channels available in the US. 

While some channels are “single-show” channels (all Baywatch, all day) there’s quite a lot of diversity in
their programming, which tends to be based on older licensed content, rather than the ocean of new and
licensed content that defines Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) services like Netflix and Apple TV or Ad-
Supported Video on Demand (AVOD) services like the ad-supported tiers of Hulu and HBO Max.

It turns out that a lot of viewers may miss the old days of just seeing what’s on, combined with the ease of
streaming: the key difference between a FAST channel and watching old-fashioned linear TV or cable TV is
that you can access it on your Connected TV (CTV) device, in the same way that you’d watch any other
streaming service. Of course, that extends to mobile phones and tablets, too.

You can find a FAST channel that’s appealing to you by looking at a grid (let’s face it, like an old TV guide)
and clicking on whatever looks good.

Related: TV Advertising Campaigns: How Television Marketing Works

Growing Support for Free Streaming Services With

Ads
One thing’s for sure, these FAST channels (both as free streaming services and free streaming apps) are
gaining in popularity. Consider these statistics: 

• More than half of US TV viewers watched free ad-supported platforms in 2022, an increase over the 48%
of TV viewers who watched FAST channels in 2021.

• Specific niche FAST channels such as those offering entertainment for kids and young audiences are
extremely appealing to audiences. What was once the province of YouTube has blossomed into 82
channels devoted to kids programming. There are also channels devoted to sports, news, light
entertainment, and so on. 

• In March 2022, one report noted that in 2021 total FAST viewership grew by 103%, with a 134% growth in
ad impressions, and 103% growth in viewership hours.

So what’s behind this resurgence in a format that many even recently thought had gone the way of the
dodo? 

It may have to do with exhaustion brought on by the plethora of streaming services and options, with too
many options out there when all you want to do is just find something fun to watch. 

Related to that, there’s the expense of PVOD and even some AVOD services, many of which may be cheaper
than PVOD (eg, the ad-supported Hulu tier vs its pure subscription service), but can still get pricey,
particularly if you’re someone with several different subscriptions.

What the Evolution of FAST Means for Marketers

Audiences turning away from premium streaming devices to free ad-supported platforms is good — nay,
great— news for advertisers looking to enhance their lead generation and demand generation initiatives. 

Viewers are getting exhausted from having to subscribe to too many premium streaming services and
opting for the familiarity and variety of FAST channels. What that means for marketers is that they have to
pivot their attention to this growing segment of the US entertainment economy.

To get a sense of the numbers involved, read on.

Related: Demand Generation vs Lead Generation: What’s the Difference?

10 Best Free Streaming Services and Apps

With the explosion in the sheer number of FAST channels and free ad-supported streaming TV platforms
out there, here are some that are making the greatest impact:

1. Roku
Roku is widely used as an over-the-top (OTT) device to bring streaming services to viewers. Roku (the
device) is widely used, with 50+ million accounts in the US. 

But Roku also has a channel, which makes originals — including the upcoming, buzzy “Weird” Al Yankovic
biopic, starring Daniel Radcliffe — and shows licensed content. The Roku channel is now the industry’s fifth
most popular streaming service, reaching an estimated 70 million viewers in the US. By many measures,
Roku is also growing faster than its competition .

This may be related to the reach of the Roku device, or it may be because of the diverse entertainment
offerings on the Roku Channel.

2. Tubi TV
Tubi had 3.6 billion hours streamed in 2021, a 40% increase in total viewing time from the prior year. Owned
by Fox, so you can stream popular shows like The Masked Singer, Tubi logged 51 million monthly active
users in the last quarter of 2021. The service is touting “exponential growth,” and is adding additional
content-focused channels for Gordon Ramsay and TMZ-themed content (to name two), as well as Tubi
Originals and Tubi en Español.

3. Pluto TV
According to its owner Paramount TV, Pluto TV had nearly 70 million monthly viewers worldwide, an
increase of about 30 million more users than were reported for the same timeframe, a year earlier. 

4. Amazon Freevee (IMDb TV)

As you would expect from a site affiliated with IMDb, the Internet Movie Database, Amazon Freevee usually
offers a compelling assortment of classic movies, supported by advertising, as well as a slew of new
originals, and classic series like Mad Men. According to Amazon, all of its ad-supported OTT TV reaches
more than 120 million monthly viewers, a sixfold increase from January 2020. (Those numbers include
Twitch and other Amazon holdings, like its news app. Still, the overall trend and numbers are pretty
remarkable).

5. Crackle
According to its LinkedIn bio , Crackle Plus (comprising Crackle and Popcornflix) reaches 30 million active
users monthly. 

6. Xumo
Xumo, owned by Comcast, had 24 million monthly active users in October 2020.

7. Peacock
Peacock, also owned by Comcast, offers various tiers of subscription but does offer some of its content
free, supported by ads. Peacock as a whole claimed 24.5 million active accounts at the end of 2021, of
which roughly one-third were of the free variety. Peacock’s free programming still includes hits like The
Office and Parks and Recreation.

8. Sling Free
Sling TV, operated by Dish Network, reportedly had just under 2.49 million subscribers in 2021 . 

9. Vudu
Vudu is both a movie and TV rental site and a free, ad-supported TV platform. According to some measures,
Vudu gets 11.2M unique viewers a month.

10. Plex
Plex maintains over 200 linear channels as part of its service and reaches 24.9 million viewers a month.

How Performance TV Connects the Dots

Performance TV turns your connected TV device into a performance advertising channel. From a marketing
standpoint, the numbers for free ad-supported TV are impossible to ignore.

Roku, for example, outperformed predictions in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a 58% increase in revenue,
and has continued to experience phenomenal growth. And as outlined above, many of the players in the
FAST channel space have deep-pocketed investors behind them, eager to keep fueling their growth with
more quality originals and licensed classics.

The appeal of FAST channels is simple: they’re free for viewers, and often actually have the shows and
movies on them that consumers are looking for. 

But it takes a smart, focused approach to advertising to harness all that consumer interest. Network TV is
on its way out, but it makes a lot of sense to spend in the Connected TV space: 72% of households with Wi-
Fi stream video on their Connected TV screens.

MNTN Performance TV uses data and real-time programmatic bidding fueled by AI technology to precisely
match audiences with content. Thus, it ensures that your ad campaigns are reaching the right viewers in the
most targeted fashion possible. 

In short, MNTN Performance TV takes your CTV device and turns those free streaming services into lean,
mean marketing channels for connected TV advertising . And as viewers switch between these free
streaming services on their TVs, phones, and other mobile devices, MNTN Performance TV marketing can
follow their attention across multiple devices and platforms.

Related: Streaming TV Advertising: The Definitive Guide for Marketers

Final Thoughts on Free Streaming Services & Apps

While Netflix and other similar PVOD services have been hogging many of the headlines, a quiet revolution
has been taking place in the world of free streaming services and apps, supported by advertising. 

This has not escaped the attention of giant players like Amazon and Comcast, and if you’re an advertiser it
shouldn’t escape your notice, either.

Fortunately, MNTN is on top of the trends in the fast-evolving world of FAST channels.

MNTN can use its mastery of Performance TV to help you craft a campaign that’s targeted, affordable, and
effective, so you can focus some of the tens of millions of eyeballs watching on FAST channels onto your
products.

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