Singapore – Samsung TV Plus, Samsung’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service which delivers free and instant access to a wide range of live TV channels across entertainment, news, movies and more, launches in three markets across Southeast Asia. 

With this, Samsung is the first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to launch a FAST service in the region. Samsung TV Plus is now available on millions of Samsung Smart TVs across Singapore, the Philippines, and from late November in Thailand.

Samsung TV Plus will have over 20 curated global live TV channels this year, offering a diverse range of bingeable shows, including MythBusters, Survivor and Don’t Tell The Bride. Fan-favourites, Deal or No Deal, River Monsters, Red Bull TV and Come Dine With Me will also be available, as well as major global news channel, Euronews

Among the content partners are Banijay Entertainment, ITV Studios, and Tap Digital Media Ventures providing a variety of global and local channels.

The upcoming roll-out of Samsung TV Plus comes just 12 months after native advertising solutions were integrated into the Samsung Smart TV experience, capturing the attention from the moment audiences turn on their TV. Advertisers will now be able to combine native and in-stream video adverts for the first time, creating even more brand-safe opportunities.

Ed Love, head of Samsung TV Plus Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO) said, “Across Southeast Asia, the appetite for ad-supported TV is soaring, with TV viewing time doubling in the last 12 months across APAC. Now is the right time to carve our own path within the region’s thriving ad-supported market by delivering hugely popular global and local content that provides something for everyone, for free.”

Meanwhile, Alex Spurzem, managing director of Samsung Ads Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO), commented, “The success of Samsung TV Plus around the world has enabled us to build a robust blueprint for Southeast Asia. We’re dedicated to offering viewers and advertisers more premium content, completely free on the big screen, all at the unmatched scale only Samsung can deliver.”

Singapore – A new research from Magnite has found that ad-supported streaming services deliver scale for brands and that 71% of TV viewers in Southeast Asia watch ad-supported streaming. According to the report, said trend in the streaming industry serves as a signal for the future of streaming in the region.

According to the report, ad-supported streamers are embracing content across devices, which leads to more meaningful connections with brands and influences purchasing decisions. 

Around 68% of ad-supported viewers take action after seeing an ad on streaming platforms, and 94% are more likely to make a purchase from a brand they engaged with across multiple devices.

Meanwhile, ad-supported streaming audiences are highly engaged when watching streaming, which is winning viewers’ attention over social video. Around 92% of ad-supported viewers report being engaged when watching streaming content as compared to 62% of social media users who say user-generated videos on social media don’t hold their attention very long.

In an exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Gavin Buxton, managing director of Asia at Magnite, he explained that in order to effectively leverage ad-supported streaming, brands should identify partners who can provide access to inventory from multiple streaming platforms at scale and support them in understanding targeting, creative and measurement opportunities.

“Streaming provides scale and reach at a level rivaling traditional TV and consumers in Southeast Asia are adopting ad-supported streaming in growing numbers. With streamers viewing content across multiple streaming platforms and devices, brands have more opportunities to increase the scale of their campaign investments to reach a growing audience of streamers across these platforms. This will enable brands to drive even greater awareness and impact,” Buxton stated.

When asked about how big is the scale of SEA’s ad-supported streaming industry, he stated that they look forward to many global streaming platforms launch their ad-supported streamers first in the region over the coming year.

“Our research establishes that streaming in the region is growing in scale, with 71% of TV viewers tuning in and 79% stating they prefer to watch free or reduced-cost content with ads versus 21% who prefer an ad-free experience. SEA was historically a free-to-air-dominant region, likely resulting in a lasting understanding of the value exchange between advertising and lower-priced or free access to premium content,” he said.

With many ad-supported streamers fully grasping the fact that streaming services have become a necessity for households in the region, Buxton expects that given this continued appetite for content, publishers and broadcasters will continue to increase investment in digital-first video content. 

“While video on demand (VOD) has been the main growth driver of ad-supported streaming in the Southeast Asia region, we can expect programmatic addressable, live sports, and free ad-suppoted television (FAST) adoption to also influence the growth of ad-supported streaming in the future. With linear TV now increasingly consumed in streaming environments, this opens up the opportunity to reach addressable audiences at scale,” he said.

Buxton further added, “Consumption of live sports on streaming platforms is also experiencing growing momentum, according to our research, and we expect this upward trajectory to continue, generating more opportunities. FAST adoption has been on the rise across the US and EMEA and is now starting to gain momentum across SEA, with device manufacturers and broadcasters launching more FAST channels to cater to a variety of user interests. All of this will enable advertisers to reach audiences more effectively and at greater scale.”

When asked what advice would brands consider when placing ads on as-supported streaming platforms, he said that brands should seek out and work with providers who have an understanding of the nuances of the streaming market across the SEA region. Moreover, it is also important that partners have direct relationships with streaming platforms and can provide transparency into media planning and reporting across these platforms, as well as the programmatic capabilities to maximise scale.

“As media owners continue to invest in quality content and internet-connected device ownership increases, Southeast Asia’s streaming TV ecosystem offers significant opportunities and benefits to advertisers looking to reach highly engaged audiences across all devices. For those that are newer to streaming, now is the time to dive in and test campaigns to become more familiar with the format, while those already investing should extend these investments across multiple streaming platforms and devices to capitalize on the current growth of CTV in addition to other screens,” he concluded.

Singapore – Popular streaming platform Netflix is finally rolling out its ad-supported plan on November 3 this year, starting off with a price of US$6.99 a month, three dollars less than the typical US$9.99 a month subscription plan. 

The ad-supported plan will first roll out in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Through the new plan, users will be presented with a much smaller library of movies and series, and will have on average 4-5 minutes of ads per hour, ranging from 15 to 30 seconds each. Users will not be able to download their favourite shows for offline viewing.

In order to roll out their ad-supported plan, Netflix has partnered with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science to verify the viewability and traffic validity of their ads starting in Q1 2023. Ads can be specifically targeted by the geographical location of the viewer and the genre they are watching.

Mark Zagorski, CEO, DoubleVerify, said, “Over the past decade, the team at Netflix has done a tremendous job building one of the most popular streaming services in the world. As we continue to expand our coverage across premium video and CTV environments, DV is thrilled to extend our third-party verification solutions across their platform, ensuring campaigns meet key quality criteria while maximizing performance and outcomes for advertisers”.

Meanwhile, Lisa Utzschneider, CEO at IAS, commented, “We are excited to partner with Netflix as they introduce their much-anticipated ad-supported tier that will dramatically increase the global supply of CTV advertising inventory. IAS provides marketers with the tools necessary to monitor the quality of their media buys as they expand their CTV inventory. We look forward to offering essential coverage to brands and the ability to purchase ads on the Netflix platform with confidence.”

It should be recalled that Netflix tapped Microsoft as its adtech partner following their interest to launch an ad-supported plan.

“While it’s still very early days, we’re pleased with the interest from both consumers and the advertising community — and couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. As we learn from and improve the experience, we expect to launch in more countries over time,” Netflix said in a statement.

Netflix’s launch of the ad-supported plan comes after six months of their interest to launch said offering. The platform has been losing performance this year, resulting in a massive layoff and slow growth.