Free, ad-supported TV networks like Tubi and Freevi are growing rapidly

At a time when many consumers’ wallets have reached breaking point, TV viewers have started flocking to a host of streaming services that don’t cost a penny.

The channels are known as the free, advertising-supported television (FAST) network. The main players include Amazon’s Freevi, Paramount-owned Pluto TV, Rakuten TV, The Roku Channel, Fox-owned Tubi, and Xumo, which is co-owned by NBC News parent company Comcast.

The channels aren’t very household names – but today, according to Nielsen, they make up 4.1% of the entire TV viewer market. That’s more than Hulu or Amazon Prime Video.

Given current trends, Goldman Sachs estimates that the value of the combined Fast Universe will grow 15% per year through 2027.

The reason for the increase: Consumers are tired of paying ever-higher prices across multiple platforms to get the content they want, said Doug Arthur, managing director of Huber Research, a Wall Street advisory service.

“There’s going to be a breakdown in terms of what the consumer can handle,” he told NBC News. In a world where consumers are increasingly frustrated by the high costs of traditional cable and satellite and now paid streaming services, “there’s a market for a free service that’s ad-supported,” he said.

Consumers are now deciding whether they’ll pay less for their content — or nothing at all — even if it means giving up premium programming, Arthur said.

This compromise is reflected in the types of content currently offered by Fast Channels. This is mainly old movies and TV shows, as well as some original content and access to some live TV channels.

Popular trending movies on the platform include entries from the Fast & Furious franchise (Tubi and FreeVee), the first two Terminator films (Pluto TV), and the Resident Evil franchise (Rakuten). The platforms also offer TV shows from different eras — everything from “Gunsmoke” and “The Andy Griffith Show” (Pluto TV) to “The Rockford Files” and “Home Improvement” (Roku).

Goldman Sachs said Fast Channels appeared to particularly attract “cord never” members of the Millennial and Gen-Z groups – that is, viewers who had never signed up for cable before (“cord cutter” who have canceled their program subscriptions).

But Ross Compton, a media analyst at Macquarie US Equity Research, another Wall Street firm, said it is difficult to get accurate data about who exactly comprises the channels’ viewership – and it is possible that the TV audience Be older generations. Also moving towards fast programming.

What audiences have in common, no matter their background, he said, is a willingness to pay nothing for entertainment.

“It’s something that reminds me of the early days of TV,” he said.

“It’s a repackaged version of the old method of distribution,” Compton said, noting that the original broadcast networks were all supported by advertising and the only investment a viewer had to make was a TV set and antenna. “Now, it’s the same thing, just on the Internet.”

According to Nielsen, of all FAST channels, Tubi is emerging as the largest and fastest growing channels, taking 1.8% of all TV viewership – on par with Disney+ and Max, Paramount+ and NBC. More than Peacock owned by.

Compton said Tubi is one of the faster platforms because it’s geared more toward on-demand offerings — giving viewers the ability to order movies and shows from a huge content library. Other Fast offerings also feature on-demand offerings, while also featuring more “lean back” programming in the form of pre-programmed TV channels.

In other words, you sit back in your coach and let the show wash over you. Compton said it will appeal to viewers who are on their phones and want something else in the background.

Despite their reliance on back- catalogue programming, FAST channels have not yet been a source of major cost savings for their parent companies.

Although many channels are able to rely on content already available through their parent companies, not all content is produced in-house. For example, Tubi and Warner Bros. Discovery signed a high-profile deal last year to allow Tubi to show WBD content like “Westworld.” Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

And, FAST’s parent companies are still investing heavily in marketing the channels to new users.

Indeed, despite their strong growth, some have questioned the long-term direction and even feasibility of the FAST platforms. TV industry research website TVRev.com said there may also be evidence that FAST is merely a bubble as the overall market continues to contract and decelerate.

Fast, TVRave’s Brandon Katz wrote last fall, “has become a trendy topic of conversation throughout Hollywood in recent years. Despite its growth, no one is sure what will happen to FAST in the long term.

But Compton said it’s clear that demand for fast channels is sustainable — for one simple reason.

“You can’t really beat freelancing,” he said.