Last Tuesday, I received emails from four different companies about the 17 separate free, ad-supported streaming TV channels they were launching. It felt like too much. And it got me wondering: Are there too many FAST channels?
Well, as much as my inbox and I may argue yes, ad agency executives say otherwise.
“I don’t think so,” said Megan Halscheid, vp of media technology strategies at Publicis Media. She cited research the agency conducted with FAST channel owner Vevo that asked people if they felt overwhelmed by the amount of premium video content available in the market — a content category that seems to include FAST channels — and 84% of respondents said they are not overwhelmed.
Advertisers seem similarly whelmed. Asked if the FAST market is oversaturated, UM Worldwide’s U.S. chief marketplace officer Stacey Stewart said, “At some point, yes. What that point is, I don’t know.”
Read more in Digiday.