FAST Channel Monetization: Content Kings Were Over Promised, and It Under Delivered

FAST Channel Monetization: Content Kings Were Over Promised, and It Under Delivered In recent years, Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels have emerged as a popular avenue for distributing content. Promised as a lucrative opportunity for content owners, the reality has been far less impressive.

The average FAST channel earns $8 CPM (cost per thousand impressions), but with less than half of the ad slots filled, this effectively reduces to $0.10 CPM before platform revenue shares. This is significantly lower than the revenue averages seen in traditional TV at $25 CPM with full fill delivering quadruple earnings from the same audiences.

The fragmented and multi-person ecosystem of FAST channels has resulted in a diluted revenue stream, where content owners receive less than a tenth of the gross earnings. This stark contrast to the returns seen on platforms like YouTube, where content owners can earn two to three times more, highlights significant shortcomings in the current FAST channel business model.

The Fragmented Ecosystem of FAST Channels

The FAST channel ecosystem consists of numerous intermediaries, each claiming a portion of the revenue. Ad agencies, CDNs, SSAI providers, and cloud monitoring services all impose demands that generate revenue, allowing technology companies to dominate distribution and monetization, thereby capturing a lion’s share of the profits. This leaves content owners with only a small fraction of the revenue. This complexity not only diminishes potential earnings but also restricts control and access to valuable data, further disadvantaging content owners.

YouTube: A Comparison with FAST Channels

On YouTube, content owners enjoy greater control over their monetization strategies and access to detailed analytics via a single revenue share deal of 55/45 in favor of the content owner. The simplicity and direct revenue-sharing model allow creators to maximize their earnings. In contrast, the FAST channel model, dominated by technology companies, offers limited transparency and lower revenue potential.

The Acceptable Model for Content Archives

For content archives, the FAST channel model provides a modest revenue stream from already amortized content. However, for content studios and broadcasters, the early adoption of this business model is often pointless. The returns do not justify the investment, leading many to reconsider their distribution strategies receiving 10-20% of the gross revenues although having more than two-thirds of the service cost.

A Fresh Traditional Approach to Monetization from View TV

Recognizing the limitations of the current FAST channel model, View TV, a channel operator and managed services broadcast company delivering premium client channels and its own branded channels, decided to take matters into its own hands. After more than a year of investigation, View TV is now launching a solution that combines traditional broadcast and content distribution models with less complexity and greater credibility. This approach mirrors the success of a single-point model, taking responsibility for broadcasters and content revenues by providing an efficient end-to-end streaming broadcast monetization solution, avoiding multi-supplier integration.

Programmatic Ad-Trading Will Not Solely Satisfy CTV Revenue Demands

The View TV AIR is a cloud-based broadcast platform that generates significantly higher revenue through a single-solution distribution platform using proprietary AI-powered ad tech. This system uses a hybrid full-fill ad-pod approach called “Addressamatically” that guarantees incremental earnings exponentially higher than the operational costs.

View TV’s Integrated AI-Powered Revenue Platform – View TV AIr

AI-powered broadcast cloud, View TV AI-r, has consolidated the independent services typically required in the FAST channel ecosystem into a single origin CDN product. This integrated approach offers several key game-changing advantages:

• Live Revenue Dashboard: Provides real-time revenue tracking across all platforms from a single dashboard within minutes without having to import spreadsheets and integrate multiple interfaces.

• 28 Day payment of Advertising Revenues – Most FAST Channel Broadcasters and AVOD owners receive ad revenues within 60-120 days. View TV, however, aligns with YouTube’s standard, paying out 28 days after the end of the month.

• 100% Ad-Break Fills: Enhances audience experience and maximizes hourly revenues. No more “We will be right back” slates; View TV fills 100% of all ad-pods using a five-tier process that does not solely rely on programmatic networks.

• Zero Connector Fees: No more paying a fixed fee for each platform your FAST channel content appears on. With View TV, your channel can be everywhere without the need for reviewing distribution viability.

• 100% Ad-Revenue to Broadcasters: Premium Broadcasters retain all platform-based ad revenue via a simple SaaS model, which can be based on a NET or Gross revenue payment model. Stop giving a percentage of revenue to the cloud.

• 24/7 Origin Service Monitoring: Ensures traditional triple nine SLA reliability by integrating linear channels from any on-premises or managed hosted playout provider while adding an additional layer of protection through AI-powered monitoring notifications of issues with sound, picture, and service loss within seconds.

• No SSAI Costs: Advertisers cover the costs of server-side ad insertion, alleviating one of the major financial burdens for broadcasters. These fees should have always be included as part of the ad sale transaction not the broadcast solution.

• 7-Day Launch Guarantee: Rapid deployment of the first FAST channel platform to get channels in front of audiences quickly using View TV partners, no more waiting months for approval and onboarding.

• Cross-Channel Marketing and Sponsorship Trading Platform: Facilitates additional revenue streams via cross-channel marketing, content sponsorships, and feature partners. (Extra 30% on CTV Ad-Revenues)

• Integrated In-Video Overlay Advertising: Enhances monetization opportunities with overlay ads featuring non-intrusive hyper-targeted advertising, providing a strong additional revenue stream. (Extra 18% on CTV Ad-revenues)

• Advertiser to Channel Self-Service Platform: Allows direct advertisers and broadcaster in-house sales teams to add orders directly to their content channels across all distribution platforms via a simple e-commerce approach, reclaiming multiple ad-agency fees and generating glossy magazine revenues.

This revised model allows traditional broadcasters and FAST channel broadcasters to launch in days, significantly boosting gross revenues to levels comparable to traditional broadcast models, depending on audience size and geographical location.

The Future of FAST Channels – Commanding Change

For FAST channels to thrive, they must deliver true TV-quality content and high-grade curation. Broadcasters and studios, bearing the majority of production costs, require a significant share of the revenues to sustain their operations and invest in new content and programming.

The solution supports live broadcast integration with live event monetization with no additional costs, utilizing dynamic director ad-insertion.

View TV’s Vision for FAST Channels and AVOD

View TV is leveraging the success of YouTube’s walled garden approach and applying it to Connected TV (CTV). Their single-platform solution manages multi-platform distribution while delivering higher revenues to third-party platforms through enhanced efficiencies. This model aims to transform the FAST channel landscape, making it a viable and lucrative option for content owners.

In conclusion, while FAST channels have not lived up to their initial promises for many content owners, innovations like View TV’s integrated solution offer a promising path forward. By addressing the key challenges and providing a more equitable revenue-sharing model, FAST channels are a more attractive and sustainable option for content studios and broadcasters globally.