The jury seems to be out on the prospects for Free-Ad supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels in Central and Eastern Europe.
This much I was able to ascertain attending the Content Budapest market earlier this week. The doubts were briefly expressed by Jamie Cooke, general manager of CEE, Baltics, Middle East, Mediterranean and Turkey (CEE MENAT) Warner Bros. Discovery, in a wide- ranging Q&A in which he discussed his company’s content strategy in CEE. Asked about FAST, he said he was cautious about it in terms of profitability, with perhaps the exception of Poland.
Some scepticism on FAST was also expressed in a panel on pay-TV which I moderated. There was general agreement among the panellists that pay-TV remains relevant in the age of streaming and indeed some felt that all the talk about FAST had been overblown.
A much more positive picture was painted in another panel, specifically on FAST, that I also moderated. And significantly, it included an announcement about the launch of a new and wholly owned and operated FAST channel in Poland by Rakuten TV.
Known as Top Movies Polska, it is the first such channel offered by Rakuten TV in Poland, though the streaming platform already has a strong presence in the country, providing some 70 FAST channels and an extensive AVOD catalogue.
Top Movies Polska will be offered to Polish households from mid-July and made available on the Rakuten TV app across all devices. While its appearance will confirm Rakuten TV as a pioneer in the Polish FAST market, more companies are also eying the country, and indeed others in CEE. They include wedotv, which also participated in the panel discussion and already has a strong presence in DACH countries, the UK and Italy.
FAST certainly faces challenges, ranging from content availability to competition for ad revenue from pay-TV services. While it is likely to grow in CEE, it will probably be at a much slower rate than in Western Europe.
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