Written by:
Stay updated with Roku Advertising.
FAST TV — free, ad-supported streaming television — grew 262 times faster than the TV streaming market as a whole in 2025. Today, 64% of U.S. Roku households stream FAST content. With all that growth, advertisers understandably have a lot of questions about FAST. Here are the answers.
The basics of FAST
1. What exactly is FAST TV?
FAST stands for free, ad-supported streaming television. It delivers linear-style, scheduled programming at no cost to viewers, funded entirely by advertising. Think of it as cable TV rebuilt for the streaming era — viewers tune into curated channels organized by genre, network, or theme, and watch whatever is airing, no subscription required.
FAST is different from AVOD (ad-supported video on demand), where viewers choose specific titles from a library. FAST replicates the lean-back, “just turn it on” experience that made linear TV a mass medium for 70 years — but delivered over the internet, on any connected device.
As an example, The Roku Channel offers 550+ live linear channels in the U.S., with more than 80,000 movies and TV shows available free. If FAST viewing across all channels were aggregated into a single app, it would rank as the fourth-largest application on the Roku platform by reach.
2. What's the difference between FAST, AVOD, and SVOD streaming?
The key distinction is the viewing experience. FAST looks and feels like cable TV — viewers tune into a channel and watch whatever's scheduled. AVOD gives viewers control over what they watch, when they watch it, but still serves ads. SVOD charges a recurring fee for an on-demand library, usually with limited or no advertising.
The lines between these streaming modalities are blurring. Many major platforms use hybrid models — Tubi, for instance, is both a FAST service (linear channels) and an AVOD platform (on-demand library).
|
|
FAST |
AVOD |
SVOD |
|
Cost to Viewer |
Free |
Free |
Paid |
|
Ad-Supported |
Yes |
Yes |
Usually not |
|
Content Format |
Linear/Scheduled |
On-Demand |
On-Demand |
|
Examples |
The Roku Channel, Pluto |
YouTube, Paramount+ with Ads |
Netflix (ad-free), Disney+ (ad-free) |
Sources: Roku Internal Data | Simulmedia FAST vs AVOD | Jet-Stream streaming monetization models | eMarketer FAST FAQ 2026
3. What's the difference between FAST, AVOD, and SVOD streaming?
Total FAST hours watched reached 1.8 billion in August 2025, surging 43% year-over-year (Comscore). The FAST- viewing audience in the US is projected to reach 131.4 million in 2026 — representing 54% of all CTV users (EMARKETER).
On Roku specifically, The Roku Channel, which offers both FAST and AVOD experiences, captured 3% of all TV watch time in the US as of April 2026 (Nielsen Gauge).
Other FAST streaming services include PlutoTV, which is measured as part of Paramount’s streaming offerings in the Nielsen Gauge, and Tubi, which also offers the choice between FAST and AVOD.
Marketer takeaway: FAST is not an obscure way to watch TV. It has the scale of cable and the targeting precision of digital.
Click here for FAST TV Statistics: Roku and Horizon study the rise of free, ad-supported TV
Common questions we hear from clients
1. Who watches FAST TV?
Roku's How America Streams data (May 2025) shows that more than half of Americans stream FAST content in every US region.
Free TV is most prevalent in the South, accounting for 60% of total TV time.
Nationally, 46% of US internet households regularly use FAST services. Younger audiences are especially engaged; Deloitte data shows more than two-thirds of younger viewers stream at least one FAST channel. And Roku data shows that 57% of households that streamed only ad-free content in 2020 now watch FAST.
Sources: Deloitte 2025 | Roku Advertising 2026 | Roku How America Streams PDF, May 2025 | Parks Associates, May 2026
2. What do we know about FAST’s future growth?
FAST viewing will likely continue its growth trajectory as more content becomes available through these services and distribution accelerates.
On content, FAST platforms are expanding beyond older library titles. Sports programming on FAST channels grew 30% year-over-year in Q1 2026 (Gracenote), a category historically reserved for linear TV.
When it comes to distribution, Roku reaches 125 million users daily in the US. International expansion is also underway; Roku launched its first FAST channels in the UK in 2025.
3. What targeting capabilities are available to advertisers on FAST TV platforms?
FAST on Roku gives advertisers something linear TV never could: household-level precision at scale.
Key targeting capabilities include:
- Proprietary data targeting: Because Roku owns the OS, devices, and The Roku Channel, our audience targeting is grounded in deterministic proprietary data from direct consumer relationships, as well as pixels, tags, and other measurement tools we leverage for targeting insights. Roku reaches 125 million daily active users in the U.S., and Roku OS is in more than half of U.S. broadband households.
- Demographic and behavioral targeting: Reach audiences by age, gender, and content interests, grounded in actual viewing behavior.
- Location targeting: Campaigns can target down to the ZIP code — a capability that puts national-grade TV targeting in the hands of local advertisers.
- Programmatic access: Integrations with Amazon Ads, The Trade Desk and other demand sources mean that programmatic buyers can include open Roku inventory in their data-driven campaigns. The Amazon partnership, announced June 2025, creates a CTV footprint covering over 80% of US connected TV households.
Sources: MNTN Roku Advertising Guide 2026 | Roku 2026 Predictions | eMarketer FAST FAQ 2026 | Roku + Horizon FAST report
4. How do the lower ad loads in FAST inform the viewer experience?
FAST users see roughly one-third of the ad load typical of cable audiences (Roku x Horizon Futures Group, 2026). The Roku Channel operates at approximately 8 minutes of ads per hour, compared to linear cable’s 14–16 minutes. That difference is meaningful. Less interruption means more immersion, and more immersion makes the content feel better
But ad load is only part of the story. Among streamers, the top marker of “premium content” is personal favorites they like to watch again and again, followed by high production values (Roku x Horizon Futures Group, 2026). FAST wins on both dimensions: half of streamers say FAST has personal favorites they like to revisit, and The Roku Channel’s content library includes critically acclaimed titles alongside its free-to-watch catalog
Premium perception isn’t just nice to have. It elevates the environment your ad runs in — and that has a direct effect on attention, recall, and brand sentiment.
5. Do you expect ads per hour to increase on FAST as investment grows?
Not significantly, and that’s intentional.
Publishers have resisted increasing ad loads even as advertiser demand for CTV has grown. The reason is straightforward: the primary draw of FAST for viewers is a better experience than cable — and that means fewer ads, not more. Streaming services that have pushed toward 10 or more minutes of ads per hour have seen increased viewer friction. Maintaining a lighter load protects the audience that makes FAST valuable in the first place
Roku’s stated position is to prioritize a quality viewer experience. Rather than increasing ad frequency to capture more revenue, the platform drives revenue growth through audience scale, data-driven targeting, and higher-value formats — not by adding more ad slots per hour.
The more likely evolution is format innovation: pause ads, Action Ads, branded vignettes, and interactive formats that generate more value per impression without adding to total ad time
Marketer takeaway: The scarcity of ad inventory on FAST is not a bug. It’s a signal of quality. Lean into it when making the case to brand stakeholders who equate ad frequency with reach.
The bottom line on FAST
Free, ad-supported streaming is no longer a test channel. It is the fastest-growing segment of television, reaching audiences that linear TV increasingly cannot, at CPMs that still favor buyers, in an environment viewers experience as premium. The question for most media plans is no longer whether to invest in FAST; it’s how much and how fast
