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Amazon is doubling down on free, ad-supported content material with as we speak’s introduction of Fire TV Channels, its new, free and ad-supported (FAST) video expertise coming to Fire TV units this week. Though Fire TV had beforehand supplied FAST content material, Fire TV Channels will now be constantly up to date all through the day and built-in into a number of areas throughout the Fire TV interface, together with on Home Screen rows, inside Fire TV’s “Free” tab, and in category-specific pages dedicated to sure genres.
In addition, Fire TV is gaining a set of recent FAST channels from NHL, Xbox, and TMZ, in addition to a brand new Travel class that includes content material from Tastemade Travel, Rick Steves Europe, Travel Hacks, and shortly, Condé Nast Traveler. Later, Fire TV Channels may also embrace content material from the PGA.
The firm defined this Fire TV replace was knowledgeable by buyer conduct and the growing demand free of charge, streaming content material.
“We’ve offered some of this [FAST] content for a while for customers — we’ve helped them discover it throughout the [user interface] by having rows of content for example throughout ‘Home’ or other pages,” explains Charlotte Maines, Director of Advertising, Monetization, Marketing and Engagement for Fire TV. “We’ve seen that they’ve been engaging with it when we surface it in a topical way…And what we’ve seen in the past six months alone is that the monthly hours streamed of this content have grown by 300%. So we know it’s working for our customers,” she added.
The progress will be attributed to a number of elements, the exec mentioned. For one, prospects have hit a form of saturation level with streaming video-on-demand choices and don’t have curiosity in including extra subscriptions to their month-to-month payments, nor do they need to attempt to sustain with any extra providers. By comparability, FAST channels are simple to make use of as a result of customers don’t must create an account, sign up, or bounce by way of every other hoops to begin watching.
With the replace, the Fire TV interface will now pull all the brand new and present FAST content material collectively in an up to date expertise that gives entry to quite a lot of classes like information, sports activities, meals and cooking, music movies, trailers, gaming movies, comedy, and extra, Maines notes.
The information class consists of entry to each nationwide information protection in addition to over 330 native information channels, together with as of later this week, new FAST channels from NBC and Telemundo.
These class pages will be accessed with only a click on from Fire TV’s “Free” tab and Amazon says extra classes are “coming soon.”
The replace was introduced as a part of Amazon’s broader NewFronts presentation, which additionally included updates to its free, streaming service Freevee — which gives FAST channels of its personal. But Freevee is accessible throughout platforms, together with on cell units and different non-Amazon media gamers and TVs, whereas Fire TV Channels are unique to Fire TV.
The firm’s pitch to advertisers is that they’ll now instantly goal the Fire TV buyer base, which tends to incorporate Prime subscribers and youthful households, by way of Amazon’s DSP. This lets Amazon leverage the corporate’s broader promoting crew and capabilities to promote Fire TV’s FAST channel advert area.
Amazon notes it’s bought over 200 million Fire TV units globally and Amazon’s ad-supported streaming options now attain a median of 155 million unduplicated month-to-month viewers, or 6 out of 10 adults within the U.S.
The firm additionally cited a buyer success story the place an automotive shopper ran native advertisements on Fire TV and Fire tablets that led to an 11% raise in model consciousness and a 14% enhance in buy intent. Plus, citing Nielsen knowledge, Amazon mentioned 72% of its streaming TV viewers will not be watching linear TV.
Amazon isn’t the one streamer providing FAST channels nowadays, nevertheless. Competitor Roku has over 350 FAST channels on its platform as of March. Google TV simply introduced over 800 FAST channels, and YouTube has been experimenting with them, as nicely. Plex, Warner Bros. Discovery, Tubi, and Sling TV, amongst others, are additionally wading into this market, traditionally led by providers like Pluto TV.
The new Fire TV expertise might be rolling out to prospects this week, Amazon mentioned. Customers will be capable to discover the brand new content material tiles by way of the Fire TV Home Screen, in addition to inside Fire TV’s “Free” tab. Later this summer time, Fire TV will carry all of the FAST classes along with the launch of an always-on Fire TV Channels vacation spot.