Let’s have an uncomfortable conversation about FAST.
The original promise of Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television was simple: give audiences free access to television, generate advertising revenue and create a new commercial opportunity for content owners, broadcasters and CTV platforms.
But somewhere along the way, the business model got lost.
FAST became a 100% advertising-funded ecosystem that made an awful lot of money for the people sitting between the content and the audience. Multiple ad-tech providers, SSPs, DSPs, ad servers, intermediaries and technology platforms all wanted their slice.
And what happened to the people actually making the television?
The content studios and broadcasters were left fighting over what remained.
The industry also seemed to forget one rather important detail:
Without premium content, there is no audience. Without an audience, there is no advertising revenue.
You cannot build a sustainable television business by continuously squeezing the people responsible for supplying the programmes that make people want to watch.
You can fill an EPG with 1,000 channels, but if the content isn’t worth watching, those channels are just empty real estate.
At View TV, we believe it is time to rethink the entire FAST business model.
We have developed what we call the Next Generation of FAST Channel business models.
The principle is surprisingly simple: make the ecosystem more efficient, remove unnecessary technical hops and stop allowing layers of technology to consume the value being created by the content.
Our model is designed to deliver the same commercial dollars to the three parties that actually matter:
- CTV Platforms: A sustainable revenue model that supports distribution, audience growth and platform profitability.
- Content Owners: A meaningful return on the investment in programming, films and television production.
- Broadcasters: A viable business that rewards channel creation, programming, scheduling, audience development and operations.
How?
By simplifying the infrastructure, reducing unnecessary intermediaries, improving monetisation efficiency and putting the economics back where they belong.
This isn’t about removing technology. It is about removing technology that doesn’t add value.
It isn’t about eliminating advertising. Advertising is what makes free television possible.
It is about recognising that the advertising ecosystem should support television, not consume the revenue that television creates.
And perhaps most importantly, it is about bringing the content studios and streaming TV broadcasters back to life.
We need more investment in original programming. More premium movies. More episodic television. More creative businesses willing to take risks and entertain audiences.
Because here is the fundamental problem with the traditional FAST model:
If you don’t feed the supply of content, eventually the audience stops coming.
And when the audience stops coming, everybody loses.
The next generation of streaming television needs to reward the people who create the content, the people who broadcast it and the platforms that deliver it.
Not simply the people who put another piece of technology in the middle and take a commission.
FAST needs to grow up. Television needs its economics back. And content needs to be paid properly.
That’s what we are building at View TV.
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