Almost everyone I know in the industry hates the term “PAST”, meaning Premium Ad-supported Streaming TV channels. FAST channels behind the paywall, in other words.
I’m going full Wolk on this, I was the first person to coin the term, tongue firmly in cheek, as part of the analysis for this article back in September 2020 on the confusing and growing number of media acronyms.
The one media acronym I hate the most is virtual MVPD. It’s so ugly. Why is the v in vMVPD small, just to be cool like it’s from the Matrix? That’s why I always capitalized it in Variety articles to VMVPD, it looks better. Also who came up with “virtual” that’s so 1999. Surely Streaming MVPD makes most sense. And finally, who are the people that think a TV network cares whether a subscriber is watching via MVPD, VMVPD or an SVOD? Reach is reach.
Back to PAST.
At a time where other analysts were speculating about the possibility of SVOD channels including linear channels, I was doing the work and actually investigating how AMC+, Discovery+ and Paramount+ at the time had premium channels only available to subscribers. Here’s an analysis on it from September 2022. The weird thing about it was that Discovery+, for instance, showed ad-supported subscribers channels that were ad-free. When I mentioned that to an exec at a TV of Tomorrow show, he cursed and said something like “Those fucking things are still up, I’m going to have get them taken down.”
The current PAST landscape sees AMC+, Peacock and Paramount+ operating channels only for paying subscribers.
Peacock is a weird one as some of its channels are FAST, available for anyone to watch if they had a free username prior to the barrier going up. But efforts like the Law & Order channel, The Office channel and others based on big-IP, these are PAST.
AMC+ remains small but has the AMC+ channel as an exclusive.
Paramount+ blends together some FAST channels operated by CBS with a range of premium channels from one dedicated to “Paw Patrol” to movies and other content. Essentially copying the FAST formula for genre curated and single-IP channels.
In the two analyses I did whilst at Variety on why Netflix should embrace FAST, one of the recommendations was to integrate key channels within the service but also license some out. It is therefore not surprising at all to see that Disney would look to up their FAST game with a PAST game integrated within Disney+.
That will be a blend of the existing FAST channels Disney has been trialling in the ABC app since March 2023 (guess who the first journalist to find that was, even if it was locked up behind the invite-only FAST Friends substack as I had to alter FASTMaster to keep my job at Variety) and LG has subsequently licensed two out to operate on LG Channels.
In a guest piece I wrote for Variety VIP+ in November, I outlined what to expect from a true FAST expansion by Disney. That remains true - focused on Nat Geo and some broadcast brands. For PAST channels within Disney+, there’s a well-spring of opportunities. Single IP channels geared on hits like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “American Horror Story.” Curated drama comedy channels for both cable and broadcast hits, sprinkling SVOD originals. A reimagining of the Disney Channel and Disney Jr. with 21st century capabilities (read, a slew of channels within a kids tab). Perhaps we’ll even get the old Simpsons World back, that FX used to run and had six curated channels for the Simpsons if you had an FX subscription, which Disney sadly killed.
PAST is the new FAST! At least for headlines. If Disney does then, then you can bet Max and Netflix will, and possibly Apple too.
If that is the case, let’s remember who the man is who coined the term, would honestly report on it and check what existed prior to publishing, and has kept the suggestion going for some time. But I promise I won’t be saying “I invented PAST” at every event.
Seriously though, this makes it very exciting to be a content owner. Content you thought was too new for FAST, can now be PAST. What the likes of A+E, Fremantle and Banijay do with this will be intriguing to watch.
As will be another mid-term development we will see on FAST services as a result of this. A few months ago, Samsung TV Plus had an upgrade which proudly noted on every FAST channel logo that it was free. This made me think that there will be a time where EPGs include paid channels too. If PAST picks up, could you not foresee a future where service operators charge a $4.99 a month fee to get the premium version of FAST, with more channels from your favorite distributors (Sony, Lionsgate, BBC, PBS, FilmRise, A+E Networks, Vevo, etc.)?
Speculation to end on, but I would not be surprised if we see some sort of premium FAST bundling, whether by theme or by channel operator, emerge as a result of the PAST boom that may be about to launch.