Why Samsung’s FAST Platform Could Be Poised for Its Breakout Moment
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Is Samsung FAST approaching a breakout moment?
In a show of confidence, the technology giant recently disclosed, for the first time, figures on the user base for Samsung TV Plus, the free ad-supported streaming service included on its devices. The platform now boasts 88 million monthly active users globally, according to a press release, and had “an over 50% increase in global viewership YoY,” although the parameters of the latter claim were not made clear.
The 88 million figure may put Samsung TV Plus’ user base ahead of breakout FAST platform Tubi, which had “just under” 80 million MAUs at the end of Q1 (its most recent public update). Of course, with free ad-supported streaming, it’s viewing time — the metric driving ad-revenue generation — that ultimately matters most, and Samsung is still lagging behind its competitors in this department, at least for the moment.
The TV Grim Reaper X account (run by Bill Gorman, formerly of TV by the Numbers), citing a source within Nielsen, reported that Samsung TV Plus accounted for 0.61% of U.S. TV viewing in September, versus the 1.7% and 1.6% claimed by Tubi and The Roku Channel, respectively. (Nielsen did not respond to requests for confirmation on the Samsung TV Plus figure.)