The news: Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) audiences are growing fast, but advertiser demand isn’t.

• US FAST viewership will reach 136.2 million this year and 151.1 million by 2030, per our forecast, representing over half of OTT video service users.
• But advertising growth is lagging as the format’s potential is undermined by a lack of measurement maturity and heavy ad loads.

FAST’s advertising problem: FAST appears to be a compelling ad prospect because of its cheap prices, which are especially beneficial for smaller brands. FAST CPMs grew only 1.2% YoY in Q3 2026, compared with 4% for US streaming CPMs overall. But that lower cost comes with some advertiser tradeoffs.

• FAST generally offers inconsistent reporting and limited audience data access. Metadata from FAST content owners is frequently incomplete—and according to 71% of senior media practitioners, this problem is only getting worse, per June Amagi data.