Currently, the US accounts for 90 percent of the FAST market.
Studios, including Disney, WBD and Paramount are licensing more original and library projects to make them more attractive than just offering a pile of old stuff.
FAST providers will finally develop better ways of helping viewers find content they want to watch (AI-enabled selection suggestions) and standardize viewer information to make the services easier to use and more valuable to advertisers.
In addition, they’ll refine tools that will allow marketers to pick specific marketing profiles, so ads are less intrusive and more effective.
Expect them to deliver more creative advertising opportunities, including product placement and specific genre selection.
Best of all, FAST will finally move beyond their English-only home court and begin to become global service providers.
Allan McLennan, president of 2G Digital Post, said ad-supported and FAST services are reshaping the entertainment option picture with seamless viewing across a variety of original and exclusive content offerings.
“Expanding globally is still in its infancy,” McLennan emphasized, “But demand for multinational viewing options here in the Americas is becoming a major viewing consideration. We’re seeing services like the FAST powerhouse PlutoTV expanding their growth, including a UK partnership with the television network My5 to extend their reach with language-specific channels and deliver content to underserved cultures.”