By Nate Frink, EVP Global Operations, Vubiquity
The first wave of FAST was a land grab.
As audiences embraced free, ad-supported streaming, platforms and content owners rushed to stake their claim. Channels proliferated, libraries were packaged into new offerings and FAST quickly became an established part of the distribution landscape.
But land grabs tend to favor speed and scale over precision. In the rush to launch, the market became crowded with channels that could be difficult to differentiate, discover, and, in some cases, monetize profitably.
We’re seeing a similar phenomenon with generative AI today. When the barriers to creating something come down, the immediate response is often to create more of it. Suddenly there’s an enormous volume of content that looks similar, isn’t particularly well curated and doesn’t quite feel right for you.
More isn’t necessarily better.
Now, a combination of market forces is creating an opportunity to rethink the FAST equation.
- Subscription continues to grow.
- Consumers are increasingly comfortable with ad-supported viewing.
- Content owners are under pressure to generate more revenue from assets they’ve already paid for.
- AI and automation are beginning to lower the cost of prepping deep libraries for distribution.
The industry is marketing this as FAST 2.0, where we move from channel creation to intelligent channel operations and monetization. It’s a true focus on premium content, AI-driven personalization, targeted advertising, commerce integration, and monetization optimization.
And unlike the land grab, this next phase is about creating better consumer experiences, making smarter use of the content you already own, reaching the right audiences in the right markets and, most importantly, making the economics work.
The audience opportunity is growing
FAST users in the US are expected to reach 131.4 million in 2026, representing 54% of connected TV users, according to EMARKETER. That’s an increase of 5.8% from 2025.*
At the same time, consumers are questioning how many streaming subscriptions they really need. Forty-two percent of paying streamers worldwide believe they spend too much on subscriptions, while 35% plan to cancel at least one service this year, according to Simon-Kucher data cited by EMARKETER**.
But that doesn’t mean people want less entertainment. They’re making different choices about what they’re willing to pay for and becoming more accepting of advertising as part of the trade-off.
That’s an opportunity to do more than capture audiences looking for a free alternative. It’s an opportunity to raise the bar on the FAST experience and give viewers compelling reasons to spend more of their time there.
FAST 2.0 is about quality over quantity
The lesson from the first FAST land grab shouldn’t be that there are already enough channels. It should be that another channel needs a reason to exist.
Rather than asking, What else can we turn into a FAST channel?, start with the audience. What do they care about? Where do you already have a recognizable brand, franchise, genre or community? And what content do you own that can be curated around those interests?
Sports is a great example. European football clubs have passionate audiences that extend far beyond their home markets, and their relationship with fans isn’t limited to match day. Archive games, documentaries, interviews, training footage, and behind-the-scenes programming can feed that appetite, deepen engagement, and create additional opportunities to monetize existing assets.
The same thinking can apply to entertainment franchises, genres, children’s programming, lifestyle brands and deep film and television catalogs.
Good FAST programming shouldn’t feel like someone emptied a content library onto a channel. It should feel like it was built for an audience.
This is where the US and Europe differ
The opportunity also looks different depending on the market.
In North America, FAST is highly mature and increasingly saturated. The land grab created an enormous number of channels competing for viewers and advertising dollars, making the economics tougher for content owners trying to break through with another offering.
Europe presents a different opportunity.
FAST is already established, but we’re increasingly seeing broadcasters and content owners treat it as part of a broader distribution strategy. It can augment broadcast, SVOD and other distribution models, giving content owners another way to reach audiences, extend their brands, and generate incremental revenue from their content.
And the opportunity doesn’t have to stop at the border. A strong proposition in one territory may have an audience somewhere else. Premium brands can travel. Successful channels can be regionalized, while library content can be localized and repackaged for new audiences.
Europe’s diversity creates opportunity, but it also creates complexity. Multiple markets mean multiple languages, rights considerations, localization requirements, distribution destinations and audience expectations.
The opportunity here is to be more deliberate about which content can travel, where the audience is and how to reach it efficiently and profitably.
Getting to FAST 2.0 with Vubiquity
The opportunity is there. The challenge is turning it into revenue at an economics that makes sense.
That’s where Vubiquity can help. We have the expertise, technology, and AI-enabled tools to help content owners identify opportunities within their libraries and turn them into compelling FAST experiences. We can help prepare and localize content, create and curate channels, and support distribution and monetization across markets.
And you don’t need to build another operation to do it.
Vubiquity can provide a single point of entry for moving content from your library to new audiences, while helping reduce the cost and complexity of getting there. As caretakers of our customers’ content, we also put governance and control at the center of how we work and how we apply AI.
FAST 1.0 proved the audience was there. FAST 2.0 is about getting the equation right: better experiences, smarter use of existing content, new audiences and markets, and more efficient ways to connect them.
For content owners looking for their next big revenue opportunity, it may already be sitting in the library. We can help you unlock it. Reach out and set up an exploratory meeting to discuss how we can get you to FAST 2.0: https://www.vubiquity.com/contact-us/.
*https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-fast–how-free-streaming-tv-reshaping-ad-market-2026
**https://www.emarketer.com/content/ad-supported-streaming-becomes-key-reaching-cost-conscious-consumers