Amazon already has a few channels under its belt when it comes to free ad-supported television (FAST), but it will be adding more popular channels to its list, which could encourage more users to purchase Fire devices for home viewing.
Amazon's FAST Expansion
The retail giant announced its upcoming launch of new Fire TV Channels where users can soon access premium "free content," They may do so on Fire streaming boxes, streaming sticks, and the same brand of television.
Amazon has already made partnership deals with several known channels like PGA Golf, TMZ, ABC News, professional NHL hockey, and more. The company already has 400 other publishing partners ready for summer, as mentioned in Engadget.
In an age where people are already willing to pay just to skip through the pesky ads, it might not be the most enticing service to watch from, but it might be a good deal to simply watch a few seconds of ads for free content.
With Fire devices, you can watch the free content by going to the "Free" tab on the home screen. You will be presented with categories to choose from to better find the content to want to watch in the service without having to type it in.
Amazon will offer live content, linear content, and VOD. Since new things will be added daily, as reports say, you'll have plenty of content to scan through before you run out, which can be enough to disregard a few ads along the way.
Free Ad-Supported Television Services
As opposed to the streaming services that we have grown used to like Netflix, Disney+, Max, and more, FAST channels are like the cabled traditional broadcasts before. Viewers aren't able to choose what the channel will show and they are there merely to watch.
The appeal of the ad-supported service is unlike subscription streaming services, you won't have to pay a monthly fee to get access to content, which is the same policy for cables before, where you also have to pay every month to retain a cable connection.
FAST is completely free, except of course, the ads that you have to watch, but it's a small price to pay to be able to watch channels for movies, TV shows, news, live television, sports, cooking shows, and so on.
It's no surprise that FAST is slowly on the rise, and people who don't want to spend on streaming services are turning to them. Several FAST services like Roku, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, and more, are getting millions and millions of active viewers.
One of the most used FAST services is Roku, with 50 million accounts in the US. The channels can be accessed by using an over-the-top device (OTT) to bring the channels to the viewers. Roku is growing faster than its competitors.
Tubi TV and Pluto TV are also getting recognition for their streaming services, with the former collectively having 3.6 billion hours streamed in 2021, as mentioned in Mountain, while Pluto TV has gotten 70 million monthly viewers globally.
