Study Reveals Similar Ad Loads For FAST Channels Vs. AVOD
- by Wayne Friedman , January 24, 2025
New research suggests consumers view FAST networks comparable to that of limited advertising-supported TV streamers when it comes to advertising time in a program -- although industry estimates are that FAST average ad loads are much higher.
One question posed to respondents is: “How do you feel about the total number of ads and promotion during the show? In response, 22% said ad loads on FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television)were “unreasonable”; with 44%, saying it was “reasonable.”
At the same time, 24% of respondents tagged premium advertising video-on-demand platforms (AVOD)-- including those of “limited-advertising” streamers -- as “unreasonable,” while 53% said it was “reasonable.”
The report comes from VideoElephant, a FAST/digital media content company, and Hub Entertainment Research, which surveyed 10,000 U.S. video consumers.
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According to industry estimates, the average ad load per hour on a FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) platform is typically around 8 to 10 minutes per hour, which is higher on average than many AVOD platforms that come in at 4 to 8 minutes.
Both FAST and AVOD platforms are significantly lower than traditional linear TV’s advertising/promotion time-- at 15 to 18 minutes per hour.
With regard to the ad content itself on FAST channels, 57% of consumers said the "ad experience" was “about the same” as on other platforms, while another 39% said FAST ad content was “better than others.”
Consumers also note some ease of program discovery on a FAST channel, with 41% agreeing that it is easier than other platforms, while 35% say it is the same and 24% say it is harder.
Wayne, this kind of impressionistic research merely indicates that respondents in such studies can't make tight distinctions re issues like ad loads--or their impact. The only way to get a good read is to take a number of ads for the same brands that use both platforms and mreasure the results--ad attentivenss, ad recall, sales motivation, liking, etc. to see if there are meaningful differences in viewer response.
Hey Ed! Thanks for commenting - my company did this research. We didn't ask about the number of ads in isolation, but rather whether viewers felt the number of ads was "reasonable" or "unreasonable". "Reasonableness" rides on other things besides the number of ads: e.g. the overall ad experience, the relevance of the ads, how much money you might have saved by choosing to watch with ads over ad-free, etc. And people are more likely to watch platforms where they feel the ad experience is "reasonable", even if that platform doesn't empirically have the smallest number of ads.
Thanks, Jon. As you probably guessed, my response was triggered by the headline. You didn't establish that AVODs and FASTs have the same degree of ad clutter--as it states. As for the general finding about people contending that they are more inclined to use sevices with "less" ad cltter---or "reasonable" amounts of ad messages--of course. However it depends on the content and demos of the audience. For example, older viewers are much less likely to avoid ads by leaving the room during commercial breaks than younger ones so if a network--say CNN or the Fox News Channel---has a preponderance of 65+ viewers that alone may be the decisive factor---even if there are a lot of commercilas on these channels.