FAST fills the gap for Virgin Media O2

Speaking on a fireside chat session on Day 2 of IBC, Bouchier said that Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has a premium business that is booming, with a raft of new premium streamers being integrated into the platform.

The gap in the line-up, however, is basic channels – where cable faces competition with connected TV. Bouchier said that the company had lost a number of basic channels as a result of changes in the market.

FAST has filled the gap, bringing people back into the VMO2 user interface, he said.

Adding FAST has not been without challenges, Bouchier said VMO2 had a regulated EPG, which “freaked a lot of channel providers out” since they had to be regulated as part of that. Most of the FAST partners are Ofcom-regulated broadcasters with a local presence.

He said the company was more interested in curating, currently 30, up to a maximum of about 50 as optimum, he said.

That would help replace the 25 basic channels that the company has lost.

The FAST channels had been inserted in the EPG at the 200 numbers with broadcaster plus one channels occupying the 300s.

Bouchier said that VMO2 had great relationships with content partners and a subscription relationship with customers, giving it advantages over connected TV platforms.

“We are trusted as a TV provider,” he said.

In many cases, the FAST providers are existing broadcast partners. Other FAST providers such as independent production company Fremantle faced the challenge of acquiring Ofcom licences, which could have jeopardised their independent status.

To solve that, VMO2 took on the obligation of acquiring the licences for the channels.

FAST gave VMO2 the opportunity to sell advertising. An existing ad sales team works in VOD, but this gave the company an opportunity to sell programmatic advertising, integrating with the platforms that serve ads onto the platform.

This meant getting customer consent to pass customer data to programmatic platforms, he said.

VMO2 used FAST as a way to enable customers to opt in on screen, with 80% choosing to do so.

Other homes see non-programmatic standard advertising.

As a pure licensor rather than a creator of channels, VMO2 is happy for advertising to be present on any of the channels it carries, he said, differentiating it from the likes of Sky.

VMO2 had found sport to be a successful FAST genre, with DAZN’s women’s sport channel performing well. Bouchier said this was a clear, targeted proposition. He said the company would continue to look for locally valued programmes.

He said it was important that FAST becomes a seamless experience where FAST IP channels become like other channels, with the exception that they won’t be recordable.

Monetisation remains a challenge, he said. He said FAST monetisation in the UK should be sustainable, but it was important to go further than the situation of today.

FAST experience

On a panel session on FAST following Bouchier’s session, several FAST executives reflected on the opportunities and challenges – including monetisation – of building a FAST business, particularly in Europe.

Kasia Jablonska, Director of Digital and On-Demand EMEA , BBC Studios, said the organisation was “in the brand building business” with a raft of highly successful brands. The company is also platform-agnostic and focused on building partnerships, she said.

“For us FAST is another way of bundling that content… and giving customers access to that content.”

Jablonska said Europe is very diverse and there is a need for market-by-market approach. However, BBC Studios has an existing presence in those markets. Adding data-based analysis of local trends, and an understanding of ad sales and regulation in each market is important, she said.

Monetisation remains challenging, said Jablonska. She said it is important to work with platforms and engage with technology – particularly content discovery and personalisation of ads.

Katrina Kowalski, SVP International Content Programming and Acquisitions, Pluto TV, also on the panel, said that it was impossible to replicate a model that works in one market in all markets.

It is important to know what content resonates in each market with local residence, she said, adding that Pluto TV had teams in all markets and it was important to consult them when thinking about expansion.

While Pluto TV has a vault of Paramount content it can access, having something that is hyper local is key. Some of the most popular content is specific to individual markets, such as is the case in Germany, she said.

Read more IBC Conference: BBC Studios – thinking FAST in Europe