It’s time for the independent content distributors and channel operators within Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) to seek out and embrace collaboration in order to see higher ad budgets and stronger advertiser partnerships. This kind of collaboration is happening at a grand scale with news publishers where thousands of news publishers have come together to tackle hurdles related to ad revenue shortfalls and brand safety challenges.
Multiple private marketplaces (PMP) have been established through the Local Media Consortium (LMC) and ProNews Collective using unified content taxonomy and data pooling among thousands of vetted news publishers in an effort to work more directly with buyers and bypass automated brand safety barriers blocking them from ad budgets. It’s a logical move that is applicable to content distributors and channel operators in FAST who face their own set of barriers accessing ad budgets, working with advertisers and offering scale in the marketplace.
The FAST ecosystem is unique compared to the rest of digital, where typically only one source controls inventory (i.e., the publisher). With FAST, there are multiple layers and economic models around control of inventory. For some streamers, and typically the largest ones, it’s common for them to take an opaque approach to selling inventory on their own and sharing a portion of the sales with content partners, while some allow content partners to fill inventory that’s left unsold and still others negotiate the carriage fee as a percentage of inventory where the content partner sells (and keeps) 100% of their share of the inventory.
This unique setup with inventory rights leaves a scenario where an individual channel operator can end up with just a slice of what may be a sizable overall inventory pie, making it challenging to achieve the scale necessary to get the attention of the bidding algorithms to sell what should be seen as valuable streaming TV inventory. That’s where the story of the cooperation of news publishers shows a lot of parallels.
The news publishers are fed up with brand safety tech and negative keyword lists blocking and ultimately shrinking the amount of available inventory, so they have focused on cooperation over competition and created value through a unified content taxonomy applied at scale and packaged into PMPs. The approach and cooperation, while not unique, is a model that would apply well to FAST.
What would it look like if vetted FAST channel operators and content distributors were to band together to pool inventory that followed a defined content taxonomy on premium content in brand-safe environments and available in a centralized PMP? Would it be enough to offer real value to brands?
The Case for FAST Cooperation
Currently, individual FAST channels and content distributors don’t have the same scale on their own as the larger services that operate their own streaming OS or app. Like the brand safety challenges with news publishers, the scale issue makes it difficult to attract advertiser budgets or, in some cases, get boxed out altogether from overly controlling DSPs.
By focusing on cooperation, FAST operators could pool their inventory, create unified categories and data signals around their programming and give advertisers access to a much larger audience base in a single PMP. This approach at scale projects value better than individual FAST players trying to convince brands of the value of just the inventory they control.
A Unified Content Taxonomy
Transparency within FAST, and more specifically show-level data signals in the bid stream, is something buyers have not stopped asking for, so there is an opportunity to not only make it available to buyers but also in a unified, clear taxonomy to create real value for advertisers.
A unified taxonomy would allow advertisers to target their ads to specific types of programming (think family-friendly, sports, lifestyle, or even live programming) and buy with greater confidence that their ads are reaching the right audiences in a safe environment.
A Private Marketplace for FAST
The purpose of a PMP is to give advertisers access to carefully curated, high-quality inventory that meets their specific needs. However, for smaller publishers, the execution often falls short due to buyers cherry-picking inventory down that leaves revenue on the table and significant value untapped. The idea of cooperation and bundling what could be dozens if not hundreds of channels and programming organized into a defined taxonomy could mean more value at scale for buyers and higher CPMs and fill rates for sellers.
Partnerships and Custom Ad Deals
Working with a trusted SSP that can gain access to budgets directly with brands, agencies, and buyers, a PMP built around FAST could offer custom ad deals, price efficiencies, first look and sponsorship opportunities – all applied to premium inventory at scale.
The FAST ecosystem is more than ready for its collaborative moment. While the current landscape can appear like a complex puzzle with layers of inventory sliced up, controlled and sold by many different groups, there’s an undeniable opportunity brewing. It’s not rocket science. It’s more like a fast break where the ball is already in motion. We just need unselfish players willing to make the pass.