FAST channels

FAST channels, short for free ad-supported streaming television, are channels that play a fixed schedule of programmes, like a television channel, but over the internet on a smart TV. They are free to watch, and ads pay for them. The viewer does not choose a programme. The viewer opens the channel list on the TV and joins whatever is playing, just as with cable TV. FAST channels are largest in the United States, and smart TVs sold in India now carry lists of free channels too.

Here is how it works in general. A company that owns a library of programmes, such as old serials, cooking shows or cartoons, arranges them into a 24-hour schedule with ad breaks. Cloud playout software plays out that schedule from the cloud, to the second, around the clock. The channel is then sent over the internet as a stream. It appears in the channel guide of the TV's own software, the smart TV operating system. At each ad break, server-side ad insertion stitches ads into the stream on the server, so that different homes watching the same channel can see different ads. The money from those ads is shared between the channel's owner and the company whose TV software shows the channel.

Why do these channels exist? Many programmes in old libraries earn nothing while they sit unused. A FAST channel costs little to run, because there is no satellite and no cable operator involved. And some viewers prefer to switch on the TV and watch, without choosing.

Take, for example, a TV brand whose home screen shows a list of free channels next to the paid apps. The brand earns a share of the ad money every time someone watches.

Consider a film studio with hundreds of old comedies. It can run a channel that plays only those films, all day, instead of leaving them unwatched.

For instance, a news broadcaster may stream its live channel as a FAST channel as well as on cable, to reach homes that have no cable connection. Its ads are sold through connected TV advertising platforms.

How are FAST channels different from other free streaming, which is AVOD? With AVOD, described in AVOD, SVOD and TVOD, the viewer picks any title and starts it from the beginning. A FAST channel plays a schedule, and the viewer joins in the middle. It is also different from a television network on cable or DTH, which reaches homes through an operator that pays to carry it.