A field guide for content owners looking to turn archives into audiences
At eCreation, we spend our time helping media organisations modernise their media supply chains, launch new services and make sense of a world where broadcast. OTT and advertising are colliding at speed. We have built playout and channel origination solutions for major UK media organisations and infrastructure providers, and we have seen more than a few distribution models rise, pivot and occasionally disappear.
FAST is more than just another acronym in the industry vocabulary. In our view, it represents one of the most pragmatic and commercially compelling opportunities for content owners right now. It is not just a pricing model. It is also a content packaging and distribution model, as we’ll discuss below.
This guide is grounded in eCreation’s beliefs and experiences in the market, it sets out how we see FAST working in practice and where we believe the most meaningful opportunities sit for content owners who are prepared to approach FAST strategically.
FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. The term emerged in the US around 2018 to 2019 when linear-style, ad-supported streaming services such as Pluto TV and Xumo began to scale rapidly.
At its simplest, FAST looks and feels like traditional linear television, but it is delivered over IP and funded by advertising rather than subscription. It recreates the comfort of channel surfing in a connected world. In practice, it is a hybrid model that combines the simplicity of linear broadcast with the targeting and flexibility of digital advertising.
One of the key reasons FAST has grown so quickly is that it addresses subscription fatigue. Consumers are increasingly aware of how many services they pay for. FAST offers something refreshingly simple. And it’s free.
Beyond cost, the experience matters. Many FAST services are presented in a familiar channel grid. Viewers can scroll, channel up and down, and settle into a stream without endless decision making. On platforms such as Samsung TV Plus, within apps like ITVX, or alongside premium catalogues on Amazon Prime Video, FAST channels sit naturally within the broader viewing ecosystem.
There is also something psychologically appealing about limited choice. In an era of infinite scroll, FAST reintroduces curation. It might be a channel devoted entirely to crime documentaries or one offering wall to wall ’90s sitcoms. It satisfies niche interests, personal passions and even our occasional guilty pleasures in a way that feels curated, comforting and effortless.
For content owners, the appeal is equally strong, though for different reasons. FAST provides a mechanism to monetise existing archive content and established brands. Programmes that may have exhausted their initial broadcast and catch-up windows can find new commercial life when packaged into themed linear streams.
In our view, one of FAST’s greatest strengths is that it allows relatively low risk experimentation. Compared to launching a fully-fledged subscription OTT service, FAST can be lighter weight operationally and commercially. It allows content owners to test genre brands, explore trend-driven programming blocks and respond quickly to cultural moments.
FAST, done well, becomes a commercial laboratory. It enables demand to be validated, scheduling strategies to be optimised and advertising models to be refined before committing to larger investments.
FAST channels are now distributed across a wide range of environments. Some content owners integrate FAST channels directly into their own OTT services. Others partner with major aggregators such as Pluto TV or make their content available within broader streaming ecosystems such as Amazon Prime Video.
TV manufacturers and TV operating systems also play a central role. Services such as Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels integrate FAST channels directly into the television experience.
In Europe, HbbTV-based approaches can also be used to deliver FAST services alongside traditional broadcast channels. This can be done with a single channel with a dedicated logical channel number (e.g. in the UK Cartoon Classics is on Freeview channel 214) or within a FAST portal (e.g. Channel Box in the UK on Freeview channel 271).
Each route has strategic implications. Distribution determines revenue share models, data access, branding control and technical integration requirements.
In our experience, the ability to remain flexible, both technically and commercially, is critical.
Although FAST is free to the viewer, it is fundamentally an advertising business. The structure of that advertising relationship is one of the most important decisions a content owner will make.
Content may come entirely from a content owner’s own archive, allowing them to monetise existing inventory and rights. Alternatively, they may acquire additional content, either through revenue share or fixed licensing arrangements. In many cases, the most successful FAST offerings combine owned and acquired content, using a strong brand to curate and package programming in a distinctive way.
When it comes to advertising sales, there are several structural options. In many cases, the platform operator sells the ad inventory and shares revenue with the content owner. This model is attractive because the platform typically controls user consent and has access to audience data, enabling more effective targeting.
Alternatively, the content owner may choose to sell the advertising inventory through an ad network or sales house. This approach can increase margin but requires mechanisms to obtain user consent and access to viewer data, often starting with IP-based demographic mapping. It also demands integration with ad technology systems and operational capabilities that not all content owners possess.
Content owners can also work with a FAST solution provider, that offers an the end-to-end solution. These providers often offer integrated advertising models, taking a share of revenue in exchange for handling the technical and commercial integration. This can simplify launch but introduces additional participants into the revenue chain.
While FAST is defined as free and ad supported, the industry has already started bending the rules. Some content owners are deploying FAST-style linear channels within subscription environments, where viewers pay for access to the platform but experience curated, always-on linear streams inside it.
In some cases, these channels still carry advertising. In others, they are ad free but retain the lean-back, scheduled, channel-based experience that defines FAST. Strictly speaking, this is no longer “free,” but commercially it can make sense. It allows content owners to reuse the operational model of FAST, including playout, scheduling and packaging, while supporting broader subscription strategies.
In our view, this illustrates an important point. FAST is not just a pricing model. It’s also a content packaging and distribution model. The mechanics of linear IP streaming can be valuable whether funded by advertising, subscription, or a hybrid of the two.
FAST may look simple to the viewer, but under the hood it’s an ongoing high-speed handoff of media supply chain, playout, ad-tech and distribution workflows.
In eCreation’s experience, the technical foundations that is put in place at launch will determine how easily it is to scale, pivot and optimise later.
At the heart of any FAST service is the media supply chain. Content needs to move from archive or acquisition through preparation, compliance, scheduling, playout, ad insertion and distribution steps to reach the viewer. A modern MAM (Media Asset Management) platform is at the core of the operation. Many organisations rely on MAM solutions such as Dalet Flex, IPV Curator or Iconik to manage assets, metadata and workflow orchestration. Increasingly, these systems are cloud-connected or fully cloud native, enabling remote operations and scalable processing.
Once content is prepared, it must be assembled into a linear schedule. This is where playout becomes critical. Traditional broadcast playout providers such as Imagine Communications or Harmonic can support FAST channels, but many content owners are turning to simpler, lighter-touch cloud-based alternatives for cost and agility reasons. Cloud playout platforms such as Amagi, Wurl and Frequency specialise in building and distributing FAST channels at scale.
We are also seeing content owners building their own FAST playout capabilities or adopt modular SaaS tools that allow greater independence.
One example is BCNEXXT’s Vipe platform, which enables organisations to create, schedule and distribute linear IP channels from a flexible cloud environment. By building around platforms such as Vipe, content owners can retain greater control over branding, scheduling logic, ad signalling and distribution strategies, while avoiding the rigidity and cost overheads of traditional broadcast infrastructure.
A key technical element is ad signalling. Before any advertising can be dynamically inserted, ad breaks must be clearly marked in the stream, typically using SCTE-35 markers. These markers need to survive transcoding and packaging processes and remain interoperable across different distribution partners. Misaligned markers can result in mistimed ad breaks, lost revenue or poor viewer experience, so testing across endpoints is essential.
The SCTE-35 specification sets the structure, but without clear message profiling, downstream systems may not respond correctly. Consistent agreement on SCTE-35 marker types throughout the FAST chain is necessary. Organisations like DASH-IF are addressing this and at eCreation, we advise using established profiles where available.
Ad insertion itself takes one of three forms:
· Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI), often delivered through platforms such as Google Ad Manager, FreeWheel or Synamedia, stitches ads into the stream before delivery to the viewer. This approach simplifies player requirements and improves ad blocking resilience.
· Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI) places greater responsibility on the player application, which must request and render ads dynamically. While CSAI can offer better tracking and greater interactivity, it requires deeper integration across device platforms.
· Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) is a hybrid approach in which the server provides structured ad break and ad decision guidance to the player, but the final ad stitching occurs on the client side. It combines elements of SSAI and CSAI, allowing improved measurement, interactivity and platform control while reducing some of the stitching and latency complexity associated with full server-side insertion.
Most FAST workflows also require integration with supply-side advertising platforms (SSP). Platforms such as Google Ad Manager, PubMatic and Magnite sit within the programmatic ecosystem that drives yield optimisation. Alongside this, a Consent Management Platform (CMP) is required in many territories to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and to enable targeted advertising.
When offering a direct-to-consumer OTT service, a content owner must determine their preferred method for ad insertion and manage the necessary integrations. In cases of distribution via affiliate platforms, these entities typically have established procedures that the content owner is required to adhere to.
We believe it is essential for content owners planning a FAST service to understand how advertising will be sold and inserted across all distribution channels for that service.
Distribution introduces another layer of complexity, and in practice it tends to fall into two distinct models: direct to consumer and via third-party distribution platforms.
In a direct-to-consumer scenario, the content owner is responsible for packaging and delivering the stream all the way to the end device. FAST channels are typically prepared as HLS or DASH streams, encoded and packaged in formats optimised for connected TVs, mobile devices and OTT environments. Encoding and packaging solutions from providers such as AWS Elemental, Bitmovin, Unified Streaming or Synamedia are commonly used to generate adaptive bitrate ladders and apply DRM where required. In most cases, content must be transcoded into multiple bitrates and profiles to ensure reliable playback across a wide range of network conditions and devices.
Once packaged, the stream is delivered over a Content Delivery Network (CDN). CDNs such as Akamai Technologies or Fastly distribute the content at scale, handling caching, edge delivery and traffic spikes. In this model, performance, resilience and cost optimisation sit firmly within a content owners remit.
By contrast, distribution via a FAST aggregator, TV manufacturer platform or OTT marketplace shifts the technical focus. Here, the content owner is typically required to integrate with that platform’s ingestion and onboarding processes. Delivery to the platform may take place over managed fibre services, cloud interconnects such as AWS MediaConnect, or reliable open internet contribution protocols such as Secure Reliable Transport (SRT). The platform then assumes responsibility for last-mile delivery to consumers via its own CDN relationships.
Each affiliate platform will impose specific technical requirements, including stream specifications, ad marker validation, metadata formats, monitoring interfaces and quality assurance procedures. In this model, success depends less on retail CDN strategy and more on robust contribution feeds, interoperability and compliance with platform standards.
In our view, understanding which distribution model a service is operated under is critical. Direct to consumer delivery demands CDN strategy and packaging expertise. Platform distribution demands strong contribution workflows, integration discipline and clear operational agreements. Many content owners ultimately need to support both distribution models.
Monitoring and analytics are equally important. FAST is a data-driven environment. Real-time stream monitoring, ad beacon validation and performance reporting are essential to protect revenue. Observability tools and QoS monitoring platforms are often integrated into the workflow to detect outages or degradation before they impact audience and monetisation.
If a content owner operates their own direct-to-consumer OTT environment, the player layer becomes part of their responsibility. Players must handle adaptive bitrate switching, ad playback, error recovery and in some cases interactivity. Solutions such as Brightcove or JW Player provide integrated player and analytics environments, while custom-built players offer greater flexibility at the cost of increased development effort.
In our view, the defining technical requirement of FAST is flexibility. Distribution agreements may change. Monetisation strategies may evolve from platform-sold ads to direct sales. New territories may require different compliance or packaging approaches. A rigid workflow will limit commercial opportunity. A modular, cloud-native, AI ready and API-driven architecture allows FAST to be what it should be: a dynamic and scalable revenue engine rather than a fixed experiment.
In our opinion, scheduling is one of the most underappreciated determinants of FAST success. Linear streams demand thoughtful curation. Audience measurement and analysis should inform scheduling decisions to maximise reach and dwell time. Themed blocks, repeat patterns and data-driven optimisation can significantly improve performance.
Localisation provides another growth lever. Expanding into additional markets through subtitling or dubbing can unlock new audiences. While localisation has historically been expensive, AI-driven tools are increasingly reducing cost and complexity.
Accessibility should also be part of the strategic conversation. Many FAST services currently lack robust accessibility features. AI-based subtitle generation and audio description tools can broaden reach and ensure inclusivity.
We believe FAST is particularly compelling for content owners who control valuable archives, have under-utilised rights or want to test brand extensions in a commercially pragmatic way. However, it is not simply a matter of assembling a playlist and pressing play.
FAST requires clarity around commercial structure, data ownership, advertising integration, technical architecture and operational agility. When these elements are aligned, FAST can become a scalable and repeatable growth engine. When they are not, it risks becoming an under-monetised side project.
At eCreation, we believe FAST success is less about finding a single vendor and more about intelligent orchestration. We help content owners:
· Design flexible media supply chains,
· Integrate playout and ad systems,
· Support distribution partnerships; and,
· Create workflows that allow experimentation without operational chaos.
Whether you are evaluating your archive for new monetisation opportunities, assessing platform partnerships, or designing the technical foundations for scalable FAST delivery, eCreation brings practical experience across playout, advertising integration and IP distribution.
If you would like to explore whether FAST is right for your content, your brand and your commercial objectives, you can book a no-obligation consultation directly with Simon Butler, CEO of eCreation.
Have an hour to discuss your business and ambitions in more detail? Choose a convenient time slot and start the conversation here.
We would be delighted to share our perspective, understand your ambitions and help you shape a FAST strategy that is commercially sound and technically robust.
In our world, free should describe the viewer experience, not the thinking behind your strategy.
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