The streaming industry spent the last decade promising a glorious future of premium, ad-free entertainment. Consumers responded by signing up for 14 services, forgetting half their passwords and eventually realizing they were paying $97 a month to rewatch “The Office” while eating cold leftovers.
Now comes the inevitable correction: people are stampeding toward free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platforms because, shockingly, “free” remains undefeated as a business strategy. According to a new Hub Entertainment Research report, 87% of FAST users cited “no cost” as the main reason they use free ad-supported streaming services.