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当 流媒体 团队在2023年底找到我，让我写一篇关于 FAST(免费广告支持流媒体电视), it took me just a min­ute to make up my mind as to how ambitions perfectly align with my newsletter 流媒体变得容易, where I dissect the latest news and trends in the streaming video industry through a Euro­pean lens. 所以，话不多说，让我们一起进入这些快速时代.

FAST在欧洲的现状

As 2024 begins, it is worth taking a quick look at what happened in 2023 in the 欧洲FAST景观，因为它告诉我们前方是什么.

人们常说欧洲比美国落后3年.S. 说到FAST. 的确，FAST于2019年在美国起飞.S.; in 2022, we were still debating whether it had a role to play in the European ecosystem. 但到2022年底， 几个玩家已经迈出了他们的第一步. 2023 got everyone on the same page: FAST should be part of the me­dia mix whether you are a content provider, 一个电视台, 或者一个分销平台.

现在的问题更多地围绕着我们如何去做. 欧洲的市场与美国几乎没有相似之处.S. 市场, which is primed for FAST success with little free-to-watch con­tent, 付费电视的巨额亏损, 掐线者涌向中央电视台, 以及一个庞大而先进的广告市场. This past year shed some light on what a Eu­ropean 快速的景观 could look like. We in­deed saw increased interest and activity from a range of European stakeholders. The region experienced accelerated growth in the num­ber of channel and platform launches; brands got more premium, exclusive deals; and live content made its entrance. Five trends got my attention in 2023 that I believe will fuel the growth of FAST in Europe in 2024.

质量重于数量

欧洲FAST平台将注重质量而不是数量. 在4月份的MIP-TV 2023期间， 三星TV Plus表示将设置软帽 在欧洲有120-150个频道, which is far from the 350-plus channels carried by The Roku Channel or 三星电视Plus in the U.S. 2023年第三季度，冥王星电视在美国拥有147个频道.K. 德国是173家(美国下降了15%).K. and Germany versus Q1 2023), while 三星电视Plus had 145 in the U.K. 德国112人(图1).

图1. 截至2023年第三季度，欧洲FAST频道总数

The reason behind this quality-over-quan­tity approach stems from the landscape these platforms navigate, where FAST must find its spot among the extensive free-to-air content available to European audiences. 简而言之，我们已经有很多事情要做了. This quest for quality translated into launches from Tier 1 brands:

• 传统广播公司: 美国有线电视新闻网, Altice集团, “法国24小时”, 法国电视, and Zee One are syndicating their linear feeds or creating bespoke FAST feeds.
• 广播机构的商业实体: 4频道, ITV Studios, BBC工作室, ZDF工作室, and UKTV are grabbing the opportunity to get out of their home 市场 or their own hubs to grow their brands on third-party platforms.
• 一级运动品牌: FIFA+, La Liga+, DAZN, SPORT1, and Tennis Channel Spain are entering the space.

Sports and news are often cited as the two genres holding down the fort for linear broad­cast TV. 是时候看到主要的运动和品牌交叉了, 随着体育节目的播出, 这在美国几乎没有先例.S. 快速的景观, which has mostly focused on shoulder content sports program­ming (pre- and post-event) rather than the game itself.

Channels like DAZN, La Liga+, and the Ten­nis Channel feature several live events a week now. 体育方面也带来了三星和冥王星TV的独家播放, with partners like DAZN showing us they see sports as a differ­entiator worth investing in.

平台多样化

在美国.S., FAST has been the purview of pure players like Pluto TV or Tubi and CTV platforms like The Roku Channel, 三星电视Plus, 和免费的vee. 在欧洲, FAST汇集了更加多样化的玩家, with telecom operators/pay TV providers and broadcasters launching FAST hubs.

For telecom operators, FAST is a natural ex­tension of their existing channel lineups. 像外普这样的公司.tv, Zattoo, Molotov, Orange, or Virgin Media understood that early on. 为广播, adding FAST channels is about super-serving their audience and increasing time spent on their platform. ITVX, TF1+和Joyn (ProSiebenSat的一部分).1 Group) refer­ence 20-plus channels each (a mix of owned-and-operated channels and a few third-party channels).

合作伙伴关系

In the fight for viewers’ attention, it is easy to think that going it alone is the way to win. 以下是你应该三思而后行的两个原因:

• 在这个追求盈利的时代，这是代价高昂的.
• It’s lengthy and potentially ineffective in 市场s you don’t know well.

It has been fascinating to see companies tak­ing a different approach, 这里有三个例子引起了我的注意:

• Hisense and VIDAA signing partnerships to power the FAST hub VIDAA 免费的 in European 市场s
• Samsung Ads brokering a deal with TF1 PUB (the ad sales house of French commercial broadcaster TF1) to boost monetization
• Pluto TV widening its device coverage with distribution partnerships with telecom operators like Virgin Media, Bouygues电信公司, 和MagentaTV(德国电信)

意识

Educating consumers to turn them into view­ers is still a top priority for FAST stakeholders. It is not so much a question of consumers under­standing what FAST is as them realising they have access to 100-plus channels for free.

The 市场ing playbook for FAST got a first design with 三星电视Plus and Pluto TV investing in out-of-home activations, 但我渴望看到更多提高意识的举措. Pluto TV’s campaign on the Sphere in Las Vegas makes me excited about what is yet to come. 一旦消费者进入，下一个挑战就是渠道发现. 关于 改进的可发现性, 但无论我们采取什么方法, 是时候在这方面加快步伐了, 什么是整个平台粘性的核心.

让我赚大钱

关于在欧洲的应用和渗透率，我们仍然没有多少数据, but what we crave most is data around the revenue potential of FAST. 研究 outlet Omdia was the first to provide numbers outside of the U.S.美国与中国的比例为10:1.S. 而世界其他地方(图2).

 
图2. 来源: Omdia了解FAST报告，《百家乐软件》，2023年

在没有实际平台数据的情况下, it is hard to say if these estimates have a grip on the true potential of FAST in Europe. What this tells me, though, is that we should not expect a FAST gold rush in Europe like in the U.S. 原因很简单:这两个地区差别太大了. 这是否意味着我们应该完全放弃这种模式? 当然不是. We must write our own success story for FAST in Europe—a story in which FAST becomes:

• 公司飞轮的稳定收入流
• 为观众带来附加价值的留存工具
• 在钱包紧缩的时候，这是SVOD的替代品
• 这是一种增加时间和吸引轻电视观众的方法
• 一个展示服务不足的内容和社区的空间
• A playground to experiment in and build a stellar advertising experience with the best of digital and TV combined

我会在这个故事中尽我的一份力量. 有.