FREE • AD-SUPPORTED • STREAMING • TELEVISION

FAST Channels. TV Reach.
Digital Intelligence.

India's connected TV audience is watching free, ad-supported television across 721+ premium channels on Samsung, LG, Mi, Airtel and more. Klarion brings programmatic access to every one of those moments, scored for attention and verified for delivery.

721+

Premium Live Channels

4B+

Monthly Ad Opportunities

50M+

Smart TV Households
TV
WHAT IS FAST?

The future of TV advertising is Free, Ad-Supported and already here.

FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. It is the fastest-growing segment of connected TV globally — and in India, it is at an inflection point. Every smart TV sold in India today ships with a FAST ecosystem pre-installed. Viewers get hundreds of live channels at no cost. Advertisers get programmatic access to a lean-back, large-screen audience that is opted into an ad-supported experience by choice.

What it is

TV content, free to watch, free to reach.

FAST channels are curated linear streams — news, sports, movies, entertainment, devotional, regional — delivered over the internet and available on any connected TV without a subscription. Think of it as digital cable: always on, always free, always ad-supported.

Unlike SVOD (subscription video on demand) where the viewer has paid to remove ads, FAST viewers have actively chosen a free, ad-supported experience. The ad contract is understood and accepted — not resented.

Why it is growing

Smart TVs are the new prime time.

Smart TV shipments in India crossed 50% of total TV sales in 2024. Every device ships with a FAST channel ecosystem pre-loaded. The moment a viewer turns on their television without opening Netflix or Disney+, they land in the FAST environment — making it the default lean-back viewing experience for millions of Indian households.

Globally, FAST ad revenue is projected to cross $12 billion by 2027. In the US, platforms like Pluto TV, Tubi, and Roku Channel have transformed the advertising landscape. India is 3–4 years behind that curve — which means the window to establish programmatic FAST capability before the market matures is open right now.

  • 50M+ smart TV households in India and growing
  • Smart TVs now account for more than 50% of all TV shipments in India
  • Average daily viewing time on FAST channels: 90+ minutes per household
  • FAST viewership in India grew 3x between 2022 and 2024

Why India is the next big FAST market

India's TV audience is moving fast. FAST.

OEM proliferation - Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, Haier, TCL, and every major TV brand ships with a FAST platform pre-installed. India's TV replacement cycle means tens of millions of smart TVs enter households every year, each one a new FAST-enabled screen.

Free content preference - India has historically been a free-to-air television market. FAST is the natural digital extension of that behaviour — the same free, always-on viewing habit, now on a connected screen with programmatic advertising infrastructure underneath.​

Tier 2 and 3 reach - FAST channels penetrate deep into non-metro markets where OTT subscription fatigue is highest and free content consumption is dominant. Samsung TV Plus alone reaches 600+ cities across India. This is the audience that linear TV used to own and digital advertising has struggled to reach efficiently.​

  • India is the 3rd largest smart TV market globally by volume
  • 600+ cities reached through OEM FAST platforms
  • Regional FAST channels growing 5x faster than metro English-language channels
  • FAST reaches 40% of Indian households that do not have an active OTT subscription
WHY FAST WORKS

Not Just Another Video Format.
A Fundamentally Better Ad Environment.

Most digital video advertising competes for attention. FAST commands it. The combination of large-screen viewing, free content, opted-in audiences, and programmatic precision creates an ad environment that outperforms both traditional TV and standard digital video on the metrics that actually matter to brand advertisers.

01
Attention Advantage​

Lean-back beats scroll-back. Every time.

When a viewer sits down in front of a connected TV to watch a FAST channel, they are in a fundamentally different mental state than a mobile user scrolling through a feed. The screen is large. The room is often quiet.

The content is intentional — they chose to watch, not to browse. Audio is on. Second-screening is lower than any other digital format. This is what media planners mean when they talk about lean-back attention — and it is the rarest and most valuable state in digital advertising today.

Completion Rate

FAST video ads complete at significantly higher rates than mobile pre-roll because the viewer is stationary and engaged​

Session Duration

the longer a viewer has been watching before the ad break, the more invested they are in the content and the more receptive to the ad​

Audio Engagement

FAST is almost exclusively watched with audio on, meaning your brand message is heard, not just seen​

Co-viewing Probability

FAST on a living room TV is frequently watched by more than one person simultaneously, making the effective audience per impression larger than the device count suggests​

02
Consent Advantage​

The viewer chose this. That changes everything.

There is a fundamental difference between an ad that interrupts and an ad that is expected. On SVOD platforms like Netflix or Disney+, the ad-supported tier is experienced as a compromise — the viewer wanted ad-free and settled for something less.

On FAST, there is no such resentment. The viewer actively chose a free, ad-supported experience. They understand and accept the value exchange.

Brand Safety

FAST viewers are in a positive, relaxed content consumption state, not a distracted or frustrated one. Brands appear in a context where the viewer is well-disposed to engagement​

Higher Ad Recall

studies across global FAST platforms consistently show that ad recall on FAST is 30–40% higher than equivalent mobile video placements, driven by the combination of screen size, audio-on environments, and viewer consent​

Lower Skip Intent

unlike pre-roll on YouTube or social video where the skip button is the primary user behaviour, FAST ad breaks are experienced as natural content pauses, not interruptions to escape​

03
Precision Advantage​

TV reach. Digital targeting. One platform.

Traditional linear TV gives you reach but not precision — you buy a time slot on a channel and hope the right audience is watching. Digital gives you precision but not the premium viewing environment. FAST is the only format that delivers both simultaneously.

Geography

PIN code, city, state, or region level targeting. A brand launching in Chennai targets Chennai households. A QSR chain targeting delivery radius zones reaches only the relevant PIN codes​

Device and Household

smart TV make and model, household income signals derived from device data, single vs multi-TV households​

Audience Segments

first-party publisher audience data layered onto FAST inventory, including transaction behaviour from Klarion's commerce app partners​

Frequency Control

unlike linear TV where the same viewer can see the same ad dozens of times in a week, FAST allows impression-level frequency capping across devices and sessions​

Daypart Targeting

morning news, afternoon entertainment, evening prime time — each carries a different audience composition and attention profile that can be explicitly targeted​

Supporting Proof Points

Real performance indicators that demonstrate why FAST consistently outperforms traditional digital video.

Attention
“FAST viewers watch 40% more of every ad than mobile video viewers because they chose to be there.”
Scale
“721+ premium channels. 4 billion monthly ad opportunities. Reaching 50 million Smart TV households across India.”
Precision
“Every FAST impression through Klarion carries an AQI score — so you're not buying reach, you're buying verified attention.”
Commerce
“A viewer sees your brand on a FAST channel at 7pm. By 8pm, Klarion serves a targeted commerce ad on Zomato. The same campaign. Measured end-to-end.”