A third of Americans are now opting for free ad-supported TV (FAST) streaming now instead of paid alternatives, according to a Samba TV report. According to data, relayed by TechCrunch, Amazon’s Freevee saw the most growth in the first half of the year at 11% year-over-year.
The report found that Pluto TV was up 7% during the same period while Tubi was up 6%. Other free services, such as the Roku Channel and Crackle were both up 5%.
While subscription services like Netflix and Disney+ can have much more content on them, the wide array of FAST streaming services, combined with services like JustWatch, offer good competition.
With inflation hitting developed countries very hard over the last few years, paid streaming services like Netflix have pounced at the opportunity to raise their prices too. The report found that Netflix streaming declined 1% year-over-year and Peacock saw viewership fall by 2% - Amazon Prime Video managed to buck the trend, however, with a 3% increase.
Where users have not totally cut off their subscriptions, they have been opting for the cheaper ad-supported tiers.
It’s fair to say that many people are experiencing a bit of fatigue when it comes to paid streaming providers. A decade ago, lots of content from different studios could be accessed centrally at Netflix.
Over time, companies like Disney and Paramount noticed the success of Netflix and have tried to replicate the success by launching their own services. For customers, this means a difficult choice between selecting which service to join or joining them all and paying two or three times more than before.
For many casual viewers who don’t care about watching complete series back-to-back or the newest films right away, FAST streaming services offer a solid alternative to paid services.
Let us know in the comments if you're included in the third of Americans who rely on FAST streaming services.
Source: Samba TV via TechCrunch
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