FAST Advertising Performance Continues to Excel, Highlighting the Promise Of Dynamic Brand Insertion

Amagi Global FAST Quarterly report reveals ad engagement has grown significantly year-over-year, with ad impressions up by 109%, ad opportunities up by 110% and 97.78% of FAST viewers watching an entire ad

As Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) increasingly captures viewers’ attention, the tremendous potential for monetization opportunities rises along with it. Amagi, a global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, today announced the fourth edition of its Global FAST Quarterly report, revealing that FAST ad engagement has seen significant growth in 2022, with native ad formats like Dynamic Brand Insertion (DBI) promising new avenues for monetization. This edition of Amagi’s FAST industry reports aggregates data from its proprietary platform, Amagi ANALYTICS, on viewership and content monetization trends. It covers insights on top ad-supported platforms across the U.S. & Canada, EMEA, APAC and Latin America for 2022.

The report analyzed year-over-year growth of total hours of viewing (HOV) and ad impressions between January – March 2021 and January – March 2022, across 2000+ channels on 50+ FAST platforms on Amagi’s dynamic server-side ad insertion platform. The report revealed a 109% increase in ad impressions, an 84% rise in HOV, and 110% growth in ad opportunities on the Amagi platform. In addition, the report found that 97.78% of users will watch an entire ad, from start to finish.

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One of the biggest value propositions of FAST platforms is a lower ad load compared to traditional cable channels. However, this also presents a dilemma for content owners and streamers — how can they manage the ad supply without compromising the viewing experience and overloading the audience with too many ads? To strike a balance between the promise of low ad load and the goal of increased ad revenue, many content creators and platforms are turning to new ad formats, like DBI, that fit intuitively and seamlessly into the audience’s viewing experience—boosting views as well as ad revenue.

“By fitting ads naturally into the streaming content, Dynamic Brand Insertion helps break the blind spot consumers have developed for traditional ads,” said Srinivasan KA, co-founder, Amagi. “We believe this is the future of ad-supported television — and our latest FAST report confirms it.”

FAST ad opportunities are on the rise
Over the last year, as the number of channels increased, viewership increased as well, this meant advertisers had more ad inventory to bet on, making it easier for content owners to monetize their content. Since Q1 2021, ad opportunities have increased by 110%, indicating that more viewers are watching the content and ads, and ad slots are being used more effectively. What’s more, total ads received increased by 82% year-over-year.

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More viewers are engaging with FAST advertising

The report found viewers are not only consuming more ads but also engaging more with each ad. While total ad duration went up by 85% year-over-year, user drop rate actually decreased from 22% to 19%. Further, 97.78% of users are watching the entire ad without dropping, and 97.78% of viewers of news, movies, entertainment, crime, sports, food and comedy channels are reaching the last quartile — watching the entire ad content. These results reflect the increased relevance and quality of ads delivered in these channels, driving greater engagement while reducing ad “fatigue.”

New ad formats like Dynamic Brand Insertion show early promise

At the end of 2021, Amagi began supporting DBI (also called in-show programmatic advertising), enabling customers to boost their ad revenues without interrupting the audience’s viewing experience. In Q1 2022 DBI brought in additional 6% ad opportunities. These results underscore the potential of DBI to reach viewers in an unobtrusive way, ensure increased views and better brand recall, and boost ad revenues without the risk of chasing away audiences with unwelcome or longer ad breaks.

“As more and more advertisers divert their ad spend to the FAST space, we will continue to see the adoption of new ad technology to create monetization opportunities that fit seamlessly into the viewing experience,” said Srinivasan KA, co-founder, Amagi. “Our industry report confirms Dynamic Brand Insertion is one of the most promising of these technologies, shaping up to be an impactful means for content owners to expand their ad revenues while reducing consumer abrasion. We expect to see many more content brands leverage DBI in the coming months and years, embracing its advantages for next-level monetization.”

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