As more consumers look to cut costs and opt for a free streaming experience, services like Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi, the Roku Channel, and Crackle are seeing significant growth. According to Samba TV’s latest State of Viewership report, 1 in 3 U.S. users subscribe to free ad-supported TV streaming (FAST) services.

Amazon’s Freevee saw the highest viewership growth in the first half of 2023 compared to competitors, as it was up 11% year-over-year. Amazon has recently ramped up its focus on the FAST market, bringing hundreds of Amazon Original titles from Prime Video to Freevee, as well as 23 new ad-supported TV channels from Warner Bros. Discovery and MGM. Meanwhile, Pluto and Tubi were up 7% and 6%, respectively, whereas the Roku Channel and Crackle were both up 5%. Fox-owned Tubi touted in its earnings call yesterday that its total consumption grew by 79%, further highlighting the demand for FAST services among viewers.

When we compared this to SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) streamers, a few major platforms saw declines. For instance, Netflix dropped 1% YoY, and Peacock saw a 2% decrease in viewership. Even Freevee’s sister streaming service, Prime Video, had a mediocre rise in viewership at only 3% YoY.

If premium streaming services continue to hike up their subscription prices, it won’t be a surprise to anyone if this trend of FAST and ad-supported streaming continues its ascent.