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sports are also becoming increasingly im-
portant to the streaming landscape, with
over one-third of Gen Z planning to watch
this year’s Super Bowl Championship live
through a streaming provider.
Justified cost
As streaming companies expand their
offerings and improve the experience to
meet the demands of Gen Z, it’s no sur-
prise that the cost of subscriptions has
grown alongside additional steps to grow
revenue such as cracking down on pass-
word sharing. While most consumers are
divided on the idea of seeing more ad-
vertisements in exchange for lower sub-
scription costs, Gen Z reflects one of the
few exceptions — which should catch the
attention of the players in this space. More
than one-third of the generation even ex-
pressed that they’re open to seeing an
increase in advertisements. That doesn’t
necessarily mean the remainder is op-
posed to more ads either — most are actu-
ally just undecided, whereas other genera-
tions are more opposed to the idea.
Further, the price of streaming services
also doesn’t have as much of an impact to
an entertainment provider today as it used
to. This is particularly true among Gen Z,
the majority of who report paying between
$75-100 for digital subscriptions, which
represents an amount more significant
than any other generation. There’s a cave-
at though: one-third of Gen Z also reports
that the rising cost of subscriptions hasn’t
provided them with a better streaming ex-
perience, which they do expect in return.
Given how many consumers — and espe-
cially Gen Z — remain undecided about see-
ing more ads, it will be crucial for brands to
monitor how this sentiment evolves.
As Gen Z continues to enter the next
stages of their lives, entering adulthood
and the workforce with a growing level
of purchasing power, it’s become clear
that entertainment leaders need to have a
pulse on their habits, preferences, and de-
sires. The streaming platform that’s able
to initially attract these generational con-
sumers may emerge the leader initially,
but it will be crucial for providers to con-
sistently explore new experience offer-
ings to keep up with Gen Z’s ever-evolving
expectations and remain competitive for
the long run.on advertiser KPIs and im-
prove 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 accurate than tar-
geting viewers of sports content as in tradi-
tional broadcast targeting. Great targeting
allows for much more focused media buy-
ing and much more relevant 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.
Raman Abrol is Chief Executive Officer,
Vubiquity and General Manager, Amdocs
Media. Raman and his team are work-
ing with major studios, broadcasters,
networks and service providers across
the world to build and deliver innovative
solutions (for both technology and content)
that help customers explore, evaluate and
enjoy Media in a simplified manner whilst
ensuring high quality Content Operations.
Prior to joining Amdocs, Raman was SVP
& Head of Telecom & Media BU at Tech
Mahindra Americas, and before that he
was Managing Director for Comverse BSS
Business Unit (now Amdocs Optima). Ra-
man started his career with TATA & Lucent
Technologies, Bell Labs group.
Continued from previous page
By MARKUS HEJENBERG
Head of Product Sales and Marketing
Accedo One
The results are in: FAST is the fastest
growing streaming category in the U.S.
According to a recent report by Kantar,
47% of households in the region use a FAST
(or free ad-supported streaming televi-
sion) service each week, and in Q3 of this
year, adoption of FAST services outpaced
VoD streaming, two-fold. OEMs and ma-
jor streaming platforms are evolving their
businesses to include aggregated FAST
offerings alongside their existing VOD ser-
vices, and there are now over 1,600 unique
FAST channels in the U.S. Omdia reports
that a small number of players have gener-
ated much of the U.S. growth. The top five
channels, owned by Paramount TV and its
Pluto TV division, have a huge reach, and
account for more than 20% of monthly
consumption.
The market is already highly
competitive and will only be-
come more so as the number
of available FAST channels
keeps rising. While there’s no
doubt that FAST is growing in
popularity, has it reached its
full potential on the monetiza-
tion front?
FAST as it stands now
Viewer engagement is criti-
cal for an OTT service to suc-
ceed and effectively monetize
its content in a competitive
market. In its current format, all viewers
of a FAST channel are served the same
pre-programmed linear content. This
model prevents channel owners from per-
sonalizing the viewing experience, which
hampers engagement, making it harder for
providers to keep viewers tuned in. There
is also a risk that with so many
channels to choose from, con-
tent discovery becomes more
difficult, so users may suffer
from decision fatigue and dis-
engagement.
Viewers have grown used to
the highly personalized view-
ing experiences that VOD ser-
vices provide. Those services
draw on huge amounts of data
to personalize all aspects of
the video service, from the
homepage, to content recom-
mendations, thumbnails, and
ads. And this is where FAST is falling down,
because it simply isn’t delivering anywhere
near the level of personalization that is ex-
pected, or that is possible for providers of
digital video services. To increase engage-
FAST is redefining viewer
engagement, monetization
Viewer engagement is critical for OTT services to succeed
in current market facing increased competition for eyes
HEJENBERG
Continued on next page
NEWS
SPORTS
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BUSINESS
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INS�IRATION
MONETIZATION