The media landscape is undergoing rapid transformations, and one of the most exciting trends is the rise of Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST). In the US alone, over 50% of homes are engaged with FAST TV, with predictions that FAST ad spend will surpass cable, broadcast, and SVOD by 2025. This evolution presents a golden opportunity for content creators and distributors. But how do you capitalize on this trend? The key lies in understanding the technical aspects of FAST, particularly MRSS and HLS feeds, and how the right tools can simplify this process.
FAST, short for Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV, offers viewers a range of linear channels and on-demand content at no cost. It's reminiscent of traditional cable TV but streamed over the internet. Platforms like Peacock, Pluto, and Roku are leaders in this domain, offering a mix of proprietary, OEM-owned, and independent app-based channels.
FAST offers unparalleled flexibility. Unlike traditional TV, you can make immediate adjustments to your channels based on incoming data. In a FAST-focused episode of the Molten Cloud webinar series, Charles Angeles of Mometu explains, "FAST channels give you flexibility...to make quicker adjustments to your content". He elaborates "they're a bit more democratized in that sense that you can invest less, spin something up faster, experiment, collect your analytics, find out what's working and what's not working, and then make quicker adjustments to that content." It's an attractive prospect, especially as SVOD prices rise and viewers are increasingly drawn to free TV options.
The journey from content creation to FAST involves several steps:
MRSS (Media Really Simple Syndication) feeds are the first step in setting up a FAST channel, crucial for content delivery. Technically, MRSS is an XML-based format designed for the efficient distribution of multimedia files along with their associated metadata over the internet. It serves as a comprehensive package that includes not only the media files but also key information such as metadata, artwork, subtitles, and more. The format is particularly suited for the syndication of rich media content, making it crucial in digital content distribution.
The complexity and precision required to construct MRSS feeds make them challenging to create manually, if not outright impossible. Each element in the feed, representing a single piece of media content, must comply with specific standards and formats, necessitating an in-depth understanding of XML schema and adherence to industry protocols. Given these intricacies, MRSS generating tools are essential to ensure accuracy and efficiency, while reducing the administrative burden.
On the other hand, HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) is used for creating the actual feed for streaming, involving ad insertion and delivering the content to the end user in a dynamic, quality-adjusted manner. This is typically handled by a FAST platform. Unlike MRSS, which is more about packaging and delivering content to your FAST channel host, HLS is about how that content is streamed to the end user, with added complexities like ad insertion and quality adjustment. If you're looking to distribute content to a FAST platform, you likely won't have to worry about HLS feeds. It may, however, be up to you to generate an MRSS feed.
Molten Cloud simplifies the complex process of entering the FAST world. With the ability to deliver content to any platform in just a few clicks, including the creation of MRSS feeds, Molten Cloud makes monetizing your content easy. In the words of Charles,
"Having something like Molten with an MRSS packaging is really helpful. And that's for us actually, really important. We have all our content through Molten and we handle 14,000 VOD assets and growing. And I don't think we would be able to do it with the size of our team. Having the right tools, and the right process, is very important."
