ThinkAnalytics’ Peter Docherty eyes market shift in FAST, streaming adtech

Somewhere between episodes of “Frasier” and “The King of Queens” on a free streaming channel like Pluto TV or Tubi, you’ll likely encounter the same drug or home insurance commercial three times in a row. This isn’t a glitch–it’s a symptom of an industry reaching its inflection point.

The FAST channel market, built on the promise of monetizing dormant content libraries through advertising, is facing its moment of truth. The initial gold rush, which saw media companies launch hundreds of these free ad-supported streaming channels, is giving way to harder questions about profitability and sustainability.

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“That sort of nirvana of ‘I’ve got this content library that I’m not monetizing right now, ‘that was the golden egg,” said Peter Docherty, CTO of ThinkAnalytics, in an interview with NewscastStudio. 

“Reality has struck. There are a huge number of FAST channels, the quality of content is variable, and you’re competing from an ad revenue perspective with many other channels,” added Docherty.

This reality check is already reshaping the streaming landscape.

Amazon recently folded its Freevee service into Prime Video, and Docherty suggests this is just the beginning of a broader consolidation. Meanwhile, the technology that powers these channels is evolving to address fundamental challenges in operations and advertising.

Market consolidation looms over streaming and FAST

“There has been an explosion of FAST channels,” Docherty said. “The services are all really about a land grab. So they’re trying to achieve scale and get the service out there as quickly as possible.”

“Getting as many eyeballs as possible onto their services is the most important thing,” added Docherty. “That continues for a certain period of time until the market reaches a tipping point, and suddenly, it can change very rapidly from land grab into retention.”

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However, this growth-first approach is meeting economic realities as advertising revenues have fallen short of business case projections for many platforms.

Operational costs present a significant challenge. Platforms must cover content, playout and scheduling expenses while competing for limited advertising revenue across an increasingly crowded marketplace. 

“What we are hearing in the market is that scheduling is still done the old way,” Docherty said. “It’s teams of people with spreadsheets or they’re trying to use scheduling systems that have been used for decades for linear, and those systems are very out of date.”

Addressable advertising challenges

FAST platforms face unique advertising challenges, as most users are unregistered. Without email addresses or reliable IP data, platforms struggle to deliver finely tuned, targeted advertising.

“90-plus percent of the users, you don’t have an email address,” Docherty said. “You obviously don’t have a billing relationship. So the traditional ways of buying in third-party data to understand age and demo, you can’t even do that on FAST platforms.”

ThinkAnalytics processes viewer behavior data from 500 million users worldwide to generate audience segments, helping platforms demonstrate value to advertisers while ensuring brand safety.

Content understanding plays a crucial role in ad placement. For example, their system analyzes programming using over 40,000 keywords and tags across 47 languages to ensure appropriate ad placement.

“If you really understand the audience from an engagement perspective and a content perspective, and you can generate audience segments from a targeting perspective, it means that you can make sure that the ads placed in that content are relevant,” Docherty said.

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Measurement evolution

Current measurement systems rely heavily on surveys, but platforms are beginning to track web traffic around ad airings for better attribution. This shift toward more precise measurement could accelerate industry changes.

“Once those measurement systems are in place, you wouldn’t be able to hold back,” Docherty said. “The effectiveness of whatever the mechanism is targeting will be clearer, which means the money will flow to the most effective.”

ThinkAnalytics has integrated AI throughout its platform since its founding, with patents dating to the late 1990s. The company emphasizes practical application over specific algorithms.

“The key thing is to have a whole variety of algorithms because there’s no magic bullet,” Docherty said. “There’s no silver wand that this one algorithm is going to solve every single problem that you’ve got.”

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The system processes tens of billions of data points to optimize content discovery, advertising placement and operational efficiency.

As the FAST channel market matures and addressable advertising capabilities expand, platforms must balance operational costs with revenue optimization. The industry’s evolution toward more precise measurement and attribution could accelerate these changes, potentially bringing long-term stability to the streaming landscape.

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