More and more FAST viewers are canceling subscriptions to streaming services
NEW ROCHELLE, NY—A growing number of price-conscious consumers say they have cut back on subscription-based streaming services in favor of FAST channels, according to a new report from Horowitz Research.
Tubi, Pluto TV, Freevee, YouTube and Roku were the FAST networks most commonly used by consumers surveyed in the study. Free, ad-supported streaming TV is currently watched by 66% of viewers in a typical month – data published in Horowitz Research’s latest annual report, State of Media, Entertainment, and Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2024.
The new report, which tracks the evolution of the pay and free TV, streaming, internet and mobile environments, shows the impact of the introduction of FAST services on the TV ecosystem. On the one hand, more than half (53%) of FAST users say they have reduced their paid streaming services since using FAST. On the other hand, 43% of FAST users say they have subscribed to a paid service to continue watching a show they started on a FAST channel.
This data highlights the important opportunity to use FAST strategically, with smart windowing and content promotion strategies, the researcher said, adding that his study showed that the relaxed experience of channel surfing was sorely missed by consumers who canceled cable TV and relied on on-demand streaming options. Over seven in ten (73%) FAST users agree that watching TV is more fun now that they can tune in to these free services and watch whatever is on. Particularly among those who no longer have a cable or satellite subscription, nearly six in ten (58%) say free services are like cable TV.
“As the FAST space matures, it actually feels like a corrective to many of the problems that on-demand streaming has created for consumers and the industry,” notes Adriana Waterston, EVP and Insights & Strategy Lead at Horowitz Research, a division of M/A/R/C Research. “On the consumer side, FAST helps mitigate the challenges of on-demand TV, where consumers had to work pretty hard to find content to watch every time they sat down in front of the TV – not exactly the most relaxing TV viewing experience. It also creates opportunities to generate advertising revenue and syndication revenue, which will help rebalance the business model.”
The full study, “State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Viewing Behaviors 2024,” examines viewing behaviors across the complex media landscape. The report examines the share of viewers per platform, the devices they watch TV on, the type of content they consume and which services they believe best deliver the content they want. This year, the study takes a deep dive into consumers’ relationships with FAST services. The survey was conducted in March and April 2024 among 2,008 TV viewers ages 18 and older. The data was weighted to ensure the results are representative of the entire television universe, Horowitz said.
