Gavin Bridge
FAST market expert Gavin Bridge, known as the FASTMaster has launched the report State of FAST revealing that not only are there the greatest number of FAST Channels in the U.S. to date, but even though the medium has matured, it is still growing. Gavin Bridge commented: “The domestic FAST space is definitely maturing. As this report will show, the growth in available channels has begun to slow as the market approaches 2,000 unique channels across tracked services, but it still continues to grow month-to-month. I’m proud to be able to present this report, and I hope it proves to be interesting and useful to the industry and its decision-makers.”
The report presents the growth of FAST over two years. The total number of unique FAST Channels available in May 2024 in the U.S. is 1,943, the second-highest total (for example, ElecticNOW is available on 12 tracked services by FASTMaster, but is only one unique channel). That marks a 13.1% increase from May 2023, with 225 added Channels, and a 47.3% increase since May 2022, with 624 Channels added. The News genre is now the second-largest channel source by volume, with 19% of total volume, following general entertainment channels (based on TV content) accounting for 58% of total volume.
Another critical observation FASTMaster cites is that Warner Bros. Discovery only entered FAST last year but has gone from being the fifth-largest General Entertainment FAST channel distributor in May 2023 (with 14 channels) to the largest in May 2024 (with 46), heralding a FAST future where entertainment brands utilize their content assets smartly to engage fans across all platforms. The report also highlights that volume is growing faster than total channels, suggesting that services add fewer new first-time channels as the market matures. However, they are looking to established channels or channels from known brands to add to their line-ups.