free services enjoy your moment –

Could Netflix’s Pain Be Someone Else’s Benefit? Many entertainment companies expect just that. With consumers struggling with higher subscription costs and more video subscription deals than ever before, these companies with ad-supported free streaming space (commonly known as FAST in industry parlance) think the time is right.

In fact, many of the biggest players in the FAST space are familiar with close followers of the entertainment business. It’s a Pluto TV owned by Paramount; is a Tubi owned by Fox Corp.; Is Freevee (formerly IMDb TV) owned by Amazon? Here’s a free tier of Peacock owned by NBCUniversal; And it’s owned by Roku Channel.

All services combine licensed movie and TV content (in some cases from your corporate core libraries) with original software. And they all rely heavily on advertising, hoping to get as many freaks as possible to become broadcasters in the streaming era. “Nothing helps make an impact like exclusive premium content, especially when surrounded by an engaging ad experience,” said NBCU Executive VP Partnership. black peter Said NewFronts to reach advertisers.

And there is evidence that consumers can be receptive. Tubi says it has reached 51 million active users, while Pluto TV says it has more than 67.5 million active users, and Roku says its Roku channel has reached 80 million by the end of 2021. Amazon has not released the numbers. of Freevee, but offered in earnings reports that it has tens of millions of users. According to Deloitte’s 2022 Digital Media Trends Survey, these services are a real buy for consumers, many of whom are fed up with simplified streaming menus that continue to increase in price year after year.

A Deloitte survey found that 34% of US consumers prefer a free streaming service that has 12 minutes of advertising per hour. On the other hand, only 25% of consumers said they would prefer a service that costs $6 a month but has six minutes of advertising an hour. In other words, the total potential market for FAST services could be greater than that of ad-supported subscribers like Hulu or HBO Max, or the new ad-supported tier that Netflix is ​​trying to deliver.

“They feel comfortable [ads] “For them,” Jeanne Arbanass, vice president and head of Deloitte’s US telecommunications, media and entertainment business, said in an interview. “We have a wide range of needs from a consumer perspective, and for broadcasters to maintain that long-term engagement, they need to offer a variety of options.”

And it was never more obvious than at IAB NewFronts, where an ad-supported free stream was front and center. In Peacock’s NewFronts presentation, executives sought to differentiate their ad-supported service by highlighting Streamer’s “premium” content and advertising innovations, including a new feature that allows marketers to preview their products live from movies and new programs from NBCUniversal.

Amazon also popularized its new Freevee service at the launch of NewFronts, the head of Amazon Studios revealed. Jennifer Salke Advertise the service as “ideally located to continue its growth year after year as well as Prime Video” at the Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Amazon executives told the audience at the NewFronts presentation that Freevee’s content grew by 70% in the past year.

“Free shows and now original movies are well produced, fun and highly engaging, along with the best cable and paid streaming,” said Lauren Anderson, co-head of content and programming at Freevee.

Roku will double your search for original content for your Roku channel. In recent months, the streaming company has signed a deal to release the film with Lionsgate, has hosted three unwritten dating shows and signed a partnership to develop seven new lifestyle and cooking channels featuring celebrities such as Martha Stewart s Emeril Lagas.

Viewing hours on Pluto TV are also increasing, with a “double-digit number” increasing each year, according to the company’s latest earnings report. And Paramount executives have posted as additional value for their paid streaming service, Paramount+. “One of the things that makes Pluto TV so special is that, rather than being seen as a difficult alternative to other services, many viewers see it as a complement to paid linear streaming,” said the president and CEO of Paramount Global. Bob Bakish He said May 3 during an earnings call. “In fact, 80% of Pluto users also subscribe to paid streaming services.”

On Roku’s platform, company executives said in an earnings call on April 28 that free ad-supported apps are growing subscribers faster than streaming apps as the price allows customers to download everything. whatever.

And having both display sectors on one platform is particularly appealing to advertisers, Bakish said, given the large number of addresses received. When advertisers see the sheer scale of our linear and streaming offerings, including services like Paramount + Essentials and our industry-leading Pluto TV FAST service, they instantly recognize that we provide access to a diverse and highly valued audience on such a massive scale. . . Which is hard to match,” said Bakishi.

Still, Wells Fargo is an analyst Stephen Cahol The May 3 post said that Paramount’s “higher” value for direct customers remained at Paramount+, while Pluto, like Showtime, showed “light” net customer additions in the first quarter. Ultimately, however, these companies are betting their FAST listings will be the next big thing in broadcasting and can support them with $65 billion plus annual broadcast TV ad costs. As CEO of Roku antonio madeira “More broadly, I think we believe more AVOD offerings will accelerate the move away from traditional television,” the company said in a statement. [ad] Streaming Budgets”.

A version of this story first appeared in the May 10 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.