LA FAST 2023: How to build a FAST business, optimize your advertising strategy and prepare for the future

Did you miss the Amagi LA FAST 2023 conference? No worries – we’ve got you covered. If you want to learn more about the current and future state of Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST), we’re sharing key highlights, trends, business insights, and more from our day-hosting content owners, creators, platforms, and advertisers. 

Here's what you need to know ⬇️

Building a scalable FAST business

• From the start
  • • Leverage viewers’ behavior patterns to find success
    • Make content accessible, organized, and searchable
    • Make advertising part of the user experience

• Distribution Insights: If something is worthy of exclusivity [and makes sense strategically], that’s OK, but most content should be everywhere to maximize scale and reach. – Kevin McGurn, President, Sales & Distribution, Vevo

• Foster collaboration
  • Important to work in a business model that works for each platform 
  • Strategic partnerships for platforms are key to differentiation
  • Secret to Roku’s success is platform leverage? A 1:1 relationship with the customer –Jennifer Vaux, Vice President of Content Acquisition & Programming, Roku

I appreciate how partners are leaning into FAST. FAST is not a dumping ground … it’s a place where people are coming … it’s content they love. -Jennifer Vaux, VP, Roku

• Viewer retention and engagement
  
  • Guarantee a good customer experience
  • Convenience: FAST is accessible, additive, and expands audience
  • Shoulder programming provides more room for features than Pay TV 
    • “For us, shoulder programming has to be premium. It’s critical for us. The viewer knows this is a special channel being delivered to them, not just a playlist.” –Andy Reif, SVP of Programming and International, The Tennis Channel

Will FAST deliver on CTV advertising? 

• Key takeaways 
  • FAST advertising can’t be your whole strategy 
    • It’s a small fragment of the ad economy on CTV
    • Think holistically
    • Impressions and scale are key
  • Action is the new CPM – and it’s different for every customer
    • It could be something as simple as watching a show trailer
  • When you buy streaming, you are buying audiences
  • FAST is not just dependent on originals but on reality, licensed content, and brand-safe content. And it’s cheaper.
  • FAST is an opportunity for live events, especially for smaller communities + sports – a chance to cash in from a quieter brand perspective

• The future of ad tech
  
  • How we buy is based on ad tech
  • Is Shoppable TV coming? Amazon Prime Video will air a Black Friday NFL game, connecting the viewer experience with their commerce platform

What's ahead for FAST?

• Key takeaway: Premium original content, including sports

• How do we accelerate the journey?
  
  • Appointment viewing for live and premium content
  • Curation – but without restriction to viewers
  • Linear for discovery - but let viewers seamlessly switch to other options if they want
  • Get the viewer experience right
    • Re-imagine ad formats
      • Solve slate issues

Want to learn more about FAST? ➡️ Visit our FAST Center

• The future for content providers
  • High-quality content | Selective appointment viewing | Rich discoverability
  • EPG hygiene needs to improve
  • Higher tech expectations for content
    • • “If [fans] are tuning in [to a sporting event], they want a high-quality experience. A college football game needs [at least] 10 cameras and high-level graphics. People expect this kind of level.” – Ken Kerschbaumer, Co-Executive Director, Sports Video Group

READ: FAST 101: A content owner's guide to Free Ad-supported Streaming TV

• The future for FAST services
  • Multi-layered personalization
    • • Personalize channel lineup
      • Viewer-focused experienced
      • Seamless mechanisms
  • Agility in software upgrades - need to be faster and better

WATCH: Catch up on all of our panels from LA FAST

• The future for advertisers
  • Rich ad formats 
  • Aggregated reach
    • • Mechanisms for data to give to content platforms to target better
  • Transparency and measurement

• What’s the next frontier of FAST?
  • Jennifer Vaux: “I appreciate how partners are leaning into FAST. FAST is not a dumping ground … it’s a place where people are coming … it’s content they love.”
  • Katherine Pond: “The space is becoming more and more crowded, forcing everyone to up their game, which is great for consumers.”

Miss out on this year’s LA FAST conference? Register for LA FAST 2024 here.

Want to learn more? Sign up for Amagi Consulting Services.