FAST Channel Ad Revenue Falls Despite Growing Viewership

FAST channels, which are free, ad-supported streaming channels like those showing “Gunsmoke” or “Murder She Wrote”, are seeing up to a 50% drop in ad revenue this year, even as viewership continues to rise. The decline stems from a saturated ad market and growing competition from premium services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, which have begun selling ads themselves. While platforms like Samsung and Xumo have removed underperforming channels, others are investing in better content or allowing channel owners to manage their own ad sales to stay competitive. Despite U.S. streaming ad spend growing 62.5% since 2021, it hasn’t kept pace with the expanding supply of ad inventory.