Welcome to FAST Times

2023 got everyone on the same page: FAST should be part of the me­dia mix whether you are a content provider, a broadcaster, or a distribution platform.

The State of Video Monetisation 2024

So, what does the future of streaming monetisation look like? This post-Peak TV media ecosystem is a brave new world, and being able to find the content you want, with the price you want to pay, will likely keep consumers on their toes for years to come.

Leveraging Metadata and User Data for OTT and FAST Monetisation

Nothing makes recommendation engines—and every other means of profit-making leverage—go, go, go like data in its many varieties. Metadata in particular is the key to personalising viewer experiences and optimising content portfolios. AI plays an ever-greater role in enhancing the metadata quality and improving recommendations. As analysts focused on the M&E industry and insiders at major media companies playing critical strategic roles agree, data is also essential to understanding customer journeys and making informed decisions on how to reach and retain subscribers and, on the ad-supported side, deliver the right ads to audiences and the right audiences to brands.

The State of CTV Advertising

Ad buying is changing. For example, now you can buy from an agency that has deep knowledge of data around local viewing, or you can go to a TV manufacturer that has deep knowledge of all of the viewing on its hardware.

Instant Replay: Streaming Media Connect November 2023

Streaming Media presented its 12th Connect virtual conference November 13 - 16, with media industry cartographer Evan Shapiro as host and MC. Shapiro kicked off the event with a dynamic keynote, digging deep into the Q3 earnings call data to hold the spin doctors accountable and giving an unvarnished view of the industry. Other highlights included The Future of Streaming with Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering at Google TV, and several panels covering topics such as Cloud Workflows for Streaming and CTV, Optimizing Live Streams at Scale, How Codec Patent Pools Will Impact Streaming in 2024, Making Live Streaming and VOD More Accessible, Live Streaming Technology Trends, and more.

How Premium and Freemium OTT Content Strategies Differ

When it comes to leveraging and building an audience for premium OTT content, how do strategies differ for premium ad-supported content and subscription-based content? Roku VP Jenn Vaux and ESHAP's Evan Shapiro discuss how and why these strategic approaches differ in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.

Generative AI and the Future of Media Tech

Incorporating generative AI into our workflows has the potential to impact almost everything in media technologies, and I'll examine several of the possibilities in this article.

How OTT and FAST Market Consolidation Will Spark a New Wave of Alternative Monetization Strategies

Vijay Sajja of Evergent explains how OTT and FAST market consolidation will spark a new wave of alternative monetization strategies.

How to Get Up-to-Speed in the European FAST Market

Free ad-supported television (FAST) has been a rapidly rising element of the streaming industry since the beginning of the pandemic. But while the FAST sector has soared in the US, it faces distinct challenges in Europe and international markets that have prevented it from reaching equal viewership heights enjoyed in the US. This article outlines ways to get up-to-speed in the European FAST market.

The 2023 Streaming Media Innovation Award Winners

The 15th annual Streaming Media Europe Innovation Awards competition—formerly known as the Readers' Choice Awards—returns with 13 categories. With nearly 10,000 votes, who are the finalists? And who are this year's winners?

Is Your Streaming Service Fit for Whatever Comes Your Way?

How certain are you of what's next for the streaming industry? Kjeld Beijer, Head of Marketing at 24i, discusses the recent and largely unpredicted significant industry changes and outlines ways to get ahead of the curve by improving UX, business models, content discovery, and integrations.

Why Ad Monitoring on Real Devices Is Essential for OTT Performance

Yoann Hinard, COO at Witbe, outlines why ad monitoring on real devices is essential for OTT performance

Scripps Networks’ Senior Director of Product Yazmin Wickham Talks Viewer-Centered OTT UX Design

Recently I caught up with Scripps Networks Senior Director of Product Yazmin Wickham to get a better sense of the role a Director of Product plays in developing and managing UX at a diversified media company in the OTT and CTV universe. I learned how Scripps approaches the viewer experience, both in AVOD and SVOD models, and attempts to deliver as consistent an experience as possible across a wide array of platform, and the challenges and advantages of maintaining a unified (or nearly unified) text stack across the board.

Linear vs. CTV: Finding the Win-Win for Marketers

While the death of linear TV has been announced many times over the years, a large portion of viewing audiences are still watching linear programming. Edward Wale of LG Ad Solutions discusses why marketers should look at creating campaigns that incorporate both to expand their reach and maximise spending.

Big Tech's Dirty Underbelly: Sharethrough's Frank Maguire Discusses Innovative New Approaches to Greener Streaming

Big Tech giants like Meta, Amazon, and Google have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. But how feasible is this goal, and where is the money spent towards it really going? Frank Maguire of Sharethrough discusses how Big Tech's digital ad deliveries contribute heavily to CO2 emissions and what these companies can do to lessen that impact and achieve their green commitments.

Server-Side vs. Client-Side Ad Insertion: Which Side Are You On?

There are two broad categories of CTV ad insertion: Server-side (SSAI) and Content-side. We've had the SSAI vs. CSAI debate many times before, with SSAI often coming out on top in recent years, but the uptick in FAST viewing is changing the conversation for many stakeholders in the current media landscape. Effective ad delivery is far from a one-side-fits-all proposition these days.

The State of OTT 2023

Netflix may have pioneered online pay TV on-demand with a model that every other SVOD chased. From April 2022, a pivot was required of every player, Netflix included.

Streamticker: The Biggest Streaming Media Mergers & Acquisitions of 2022

A look at the streaming industry's most notable mergers and acquisitions of 2022, from WarnerBros-Discovery to Microsoft/Activision to Limelight/Edgecast to Dolby/Millicast to Telestream/Encoding.com and more

The 2023 Streaming Media Europe 51

Our annual list of the most cutting-edge, influential, and dynamic technology companies in the European online video market.

Winning the Data War: Accessing and Leveraging Streaming Analytics

This article explores the topic of data rights versus technology capabilities as it impacts media companies' ability to leverage accrued data and analytics to target relevant audiences, expand their reach, and monetize their content offerings. If the intersection of data rights ownership and technology capabilities access were captured in a Venn diagram, the space in between would be very small for some media companies.