NEWSCASTSTUDIO.COM
NEWSCASTSTUDIO.COM
more targeted creative, and to optimize
performance throughout a campaign.
FAST is also an opportunity to offer
more flexibility and choice to advertisers
and to become more agile. With so many
more levers to pull on FAST, advertisers
are finding that they can get high perfor-
mance. In fact, demand for FAST often
outpaces supply, even though the channel
is growing quickly. Scheduling cable and
broadcast is much less flexible, with few-
er opportunities to target audiences or
optimize and measure performance. For
example, in FAST, advertisers can create
personalized creative that is dynamically
inserted based on the content someone
just saw or other customer data that can
come from other channels.
What’s more, cable and broadcast ad
serving and distribution is much less dy-
namic. With FAST, media companies can
get real-time performance insights and
make changes to maximize ROI based on
advertiser KPIs and improve their own
revenue opportunities. FAST providers
need the right software in place to track
and optimize campaigns and pull reports
on demand.
Targeting and data also matter. If a
sports apparel advertiser buying on a
FAST app could target viewers who have
shown interest in sports apparel across
digital channels such as shopping on
e-commerce sites, that’s much more accu-
rate than targeting viewers of sports con-
tent as in traditional broadcast targeting.
Great targeting allows for much more fo-
cused media buying and much more rele-
vant advertising.
FAST is just getting started
To succeed with viewers and advertis-
ers, FAST providers need to keep growing
and innovating. Advertisers are adapt-
ing to shifts in consumer behavior in re-
al-time, which means that their demands
will shift quickly, as well. At the same time,
FAST providers need to make it as easy as
possible for advertisers to buy at scale and
reach key audiences.
One way to appeal to buyers is with self-
serve sales. Advertisers and their agencies
are used to self-service from major digital
platforms, and even smaller and local ad-
vertisers will like the convenience and
control that self-service provides.
Another importnt element that FAST
providers need to have in place is a tech
stack that streamlines the sales, order
management and reporting processes in
a way that works with their other chan-
nels. Consolidating media sales across
channels is important to reduce friction
and complexity. Broadcasters often have
content on other channels, such as broad-
cast or digital and need to have a unified
product offering. Having a single IO for
advertisers buying across channels, being
able to measure and optimize throughout
a campaign, and pricing and packaging in-
ventory effectively will all set FAST provid-
ers up for success in the long term.
David Dembowski is the Head of Global
Sales and Account Management at Oper-
ative. He spearheads the expansion and
growth of Operative across existing and
new markets worldwide. Dembowski is an
accomplished sales leader with extensive
digital media and adtech experience. Prior
to joining Operative, Dembowski led data
analytics and SaaS sales across leading
linear, CTV/OTT, DOOH, and digital eco-
systems for Standard Media Index. He has
also held leadership sales roles at Ignitio-
nOne, NetMining and Yahoo!. Dembowski
has served on a variety of boards for
industry organizations, including the IAB
and the ANA. He received a B.A. in History
from the University of New Hampshire and
his MS in Strategic Communication and
Leadership from Purdue University.
Continued from previous page
By RAMAN ABROL
Chief Executive Officer, Vubiquity and General Manager,
Amdocs Media
Home entertainment has shifted and
evolved with each generation. Gen X was
the first to enjoy premium television, like
HBO. Millennials were the first to cord
cut, prioritizing streaming over cable. And
Gen Z has grown up amidst the streaming
war. Through these periods of home en-
tertainment evolution, consumers have
been given more and more access to con-
tent in an increasingly convenient man-
ner. Access and content once differentiat-
ed streaming companies from traditional
entertainment studios, and from one an-
other, however today, the streaming land-
scape looks rather homogenized. While
the standardized streaming experience
has been beneficial for consumers, it has
stifled competition and customer acquisi-
tion amongst streaming platforms.
As the purchasing power of Gen Z rises
and they enter a more independent phase
of their lives, they become an opportune
and essential target group for stream-
ing platforms and their business growth.
However, this generation’s behaviors and
beliefs deviate significantly from other
generations. A new report by Amdocs,
“New Streamer 2024,” found that Gen Z’s
attitude towards streaming differs from
older generations specifically regarding
content, experience, and cost. In order for
streaming platforms to attract the young
and unique generation, they must consid-
er the following.
Content innovation
There’s no doubt about the impact orig-
inal content has had on this generation —
Stranger Things, Ted Lasso, and Keeping
Up with the Kardashians are only a small
sample of the original shows that have
captivated this younger audience. Howev-
er, a staggering 90% of Gen Z are also ea-
ger to see this original content break free
from the confines of individual streaming
platforms as well. They’re hungry for a di-
verse range of content that transcends the
boundaries of single streaming providers
through syndication deals.
In fact, condensing the num-
ber of streaming apps avail-
able has emerged as a priority
for this generation. Nearly 80%
wish there was a single portal
or app where they could ac-
cess all of their streaming sub-
scriptions and related content.
Doing so could particularly
also help alleviate another
pain point that has surfaced
— being overwhelmed by the
sheer number of streaming
subscriptions available, which
is most present for Gen Z (50%) compared
to other generations (between 26-27% for
older Millennials). While we’re already
seeing these walled gardens start to come
down, we can expect to see more content
no longer exclusively associated with one
individual streaming brand as this demand
continues to grow.
Improved experience
Gen Z is the first digitally native gener-
ation. As a result, they’re looking for an
increased amount of personalization, in-
cluding an ability to create and
pay for a content package that
is limited to only the content
they are interested in (60%),
compared to paying for access
to a streaming provider’s en-
tire library of content. How-
ever, Gen Z is also looking for
more than just access to great
content.
Instead,
there’s
an
en-
tirely changing definition of
“streaming.” For instance, 70%
of Gen Z have an interest in
cloud gaming through their
streaming subscriptions. This hasn’t gone
unnoticed by Netflix either, with the com-
pany recently making a big push into video
games — recently launching the first tests
for its cloud-streaming games that lets
you play titles on a TV or the web. This has
particularly excited Gen Z compared to
older generations (with under half of older
Millennials expressing a desire to engage
with this new offering). Additionally, live
How Gen Z is reshaping the
streaming landscape’s future
Gen Z’s growing purchasing power has the
potential to change the streaming business
ABROL
Continued on next page
MARKET SEGMENTS