FAST is one of the fastest growing areas of streaming. With so many services now offering some form of free content, it is worth being aware of exactly what FAST means, including its benefits and limitations.
What does FAST Actually Mean?
FAST is a term you will hear often in the world of streaming and it is an acronym for “free, ad-supported streaming TV” or “free, ad-supported streaming television.” Either way, it means the same thing – free.
In real terms, FAST means the ability to watch content for free, and almost always thanks to the use of ads. Unlike traditional live TV or on-demand services, which typically require paid subscriptions (and often include ads), live and on-demand FAST services are usually completely free to use.
In many cases, FAST services won’t even require you to sign up for an account. For services that do require you to sign up, if it is a FAST service, the account will be free to create and use.
The Difference Between FAST And AVOD
There isn’t much difference between FAST and AVOD in principle, as both models rely heavily on the use of ads. However, one fundamental difference is that FAST usually always means free. In contrast, while some AVOD services are free, some paid services offer an AVOD tier.
For example, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Netflix, and many others, offer both ad-supported and ad-free plans. Technically speaking, all of these ad-supported tiers are AVOD tiers, as they make use of ads.
When it comes to completely free services, the difference is more nuanced and can be best understood in terms of the focus of the service.
For example, any free service that mostly focuses on free live channels are best described as FAST services. Likewise, free services that mainly focus on on-demand content are best described as AVOD services. Even though these AVOD services are free, their ad-supported library is mostly comprised of on-demand content, similar to Disney+, Netflix and so on.
Again, at the free level, this difference is becoming far less important. Although each free service tends to land on one side (live or on-demand), almost all free services now blur the lines by offering access to a variety of free on-demand and live content.
The Different Types Of FAST Service
As explained in the last section, not all FAST services work the same. While ‘free, ad-supported TV‘ clearly links FAST services to the idea of traditional live TV, FAST can relate to anything that’s free and makes use of ads.
In other words, some FAST services might only offer access to live channels and others might only offer access to on-demand content. In most cases, however, FAST services will offer access to both free live channels and free on-demand content.
Examples of popular FAST Services:
In addition to these more general FAST services, there’s also a number of FAST services that can only be accessed on specific devices. Typically, these services are offered directly by the device maker, which is why they are limited to the maker’s devices.
Examples Of Device-Specific FAST Services
On top of all of this, there are also platforms that now offer a FAST experience. Unlike specific services, FAST platforms tend to bring together content from various FAST services to offer more of a one-stop FAST solution.
A good example here is Google TV. Devices running on Google TV have access to a Live tab which brings together FAST live channels from various services. For example, while Google TV offers more than 130 of its own channels, it offers access to more than 950 free channels in total, thanks to partnerships with Haystack News, Pluto TV, and Tubi, among others.
Are Services Like Pluto TV And Tubi Really Free?
Yes, services like Pluto TV and Tubi really are free. While that might sound too good to be true, it’s not. The reason these services are able to offer free content is thanks to the FAST and AVOD business models.
Instead of directly charging you a monthly subscription fee, these services rely on ads for revenue. As a result of this, pretty much every episode, movie, or program you watch on any of these services will include ads. What’s more, as there are no paid plans, there’s no way to upgrade to an ad-free streaming experience.
In terms of the ad load, this is something which is ultimately determined by the service. While consumers won’t have to worry about comparing prices, they may want to compare ad loads to find the FAST service that works best for them.
Pluto vs Tubi
See how their ad loads compare.
Watching Live TV For Free With FAST
While you can watch live TV for free through a FAST service, it is important to understand that free in this sense is not necessarily the same as free in the traditional sense.
Many FAST services offer a live TV experience through the availability of free linear channels. Just like traditional live TV services, these free channels play content continuously throughout the day. Unlike traditional live TV, however, these free channels tend to play themed content.
As an example, while a paid live TV plan opens up access to popular channels like ABC, Fox and NBC, free TV services offer access to generic news channels or channels that are dedicated to a specific topic or theme, such as comedies, movies, or popular shows.
How many FAST Channels Are There?
This is something that’s almost impossible to answer definitively considering the FAST market is somewhat limitless. As free channels are curated channels, companies and services can theoretically create as many as they want.
Think of it this way. Not only can companies release FAST channels for every genre and theme, but they can also release FAST channels for every show and franchise they own as well. In even simpler terms, the number of FAST channels is only limited to the number of themes and shows you can think of.
At the service level, Sling Freestream currently offers access to more than 500 channels, Samsung TV Plus more than 350 live TV channels, Vizio‘s WatchFree+ more than 300 channels, Tubi more than 260 channels, and Pluto TV more than 250 channels.
It is worth keeping in mind that these are just the current levels. With all of these services continually adding more channels each year, the number each service offers could increase dramatically over the next few years.
Will FAST Always Remain Free?
While we’re hesitant to say anything definitively in streaming, FAST should always remain free. After all, free is part of the acronym. However, that’s not to say the lines of free and paid won’t continue to become more blurred in the future.
Many paid live TV services now offer FAST content. While some, including Fubo, Philo, and Sling TV, offer a completely free FAST tier, others, including DirecTV Stream, only offer FAST content as an additional benefit of a paid subscription.
This blurring is likely to continue in the future. While this could mean some of the currently free services will opt to include a paid tier at some point, it stands to reason that they will continue to offer some form of free access.
If they don’t, they won’t technically be able to be classified as a FAST service anymore.
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