With free ad-supported streaming predicted by one research company to account for nearly 70% of TV advertising by 2027, YouTube wants in.
The company is testing a set of FAST channels, offering them to select customers in its Movies & TV storefront.
Currently, most of the content in that destination consists of movies available for rent or purchase directly from Google, or TV shows available from subscription video-on-demand suppliers like Paramount Plus. There is a limited selection of older movie titles that are viewable free with ads, like Osmosis Jones and The Silence of the Lambs. There's also some really old TV titles, like Candid Camera, that are free.
But as first reported late last week by the Wall Street Journal, YouTube is working with A+E Networks, Cinedigm Corp, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., FilmRise and other media companies to test full branded live-linear FAST channels on Movies & TV.
“YouTube is the only place where viewers can find everything they want, and we’re always looking for new ways to provide viewers a central destination to more easily find, watch, and share the content that matters most to them," YouTube said in a statement since shared with other media outlets. "We are currently running a small experiment that allows viewers to watch free ad-supported linear channels alongside the wide variety of content we offer on the platform.”
Producing more than $7 billion in revenue the third quarter alone, YouTube is the biggest ad-supported video company in the world, and its entry into the FAST market would be a big deal.
According to the latest FAST data put out by research company TVREV, FAST will soon surpass cable and broadcast in revenue. And by 2027, they'll generate $69 billion out of an overall U.S. TV ad budget of $101 billion. ■
