Ad-supported streaming channel operator and technology provider Future Today has expanded its channel-as-a-service (CaaS) offering to companies outside the content realm and is now targeting major brands across industries to help launch their own dedicated, free channels on connected TV devices.
Future Today has an advertising video on-demand (AVOD) platform with a portfolio that includes hundreds of owned and operated channels distributed by dozens of leading OTT platforms. In recent years it also added linear streaming capabilities to its technology stack.
Some Future Today-owned channels include HappyKids, Fawesome.tv and ifood.tv. It has distribution on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, as well as Comcast Xfinity on the X1 and Flex platforms which was its first MVPD partner under a 2020 deal.
In addition to its own channels, Future Today has been a full stack Channel-as-a-Service technology partner for content and IP owners, helping them to launch new, free streaming channels on AVOD and linear FAST. It’s served as the CaaS stack for over 300 content companies. With today’s announcement, the company appears to be betting that big brands will want to get in on the AVOD and FAST action as well – not just with advertising between content, but with their own brand-dedicated streaming channels.
In 2021 Future Today launched eight linear FAST channels on Vizio, Sling TV, Samsung TV+, and The Roku channel, along with two new linear channels on Redbox LiveTV, available on gaming platforms PlayStation and Xbox.
As of today, the company is making its CaaS technology widely available to any major brand across retail, CPG, travel, insurance, auto, QSR and more, in order to take advantage of blooming CTV viewership.
Alongside increased connected TV viewership, viewers’ appetite for lower-cost ad-supported options is also on the rise. Recent data from Comscore found U.S. households are adopting ad-supported streaming services at a faster rate than subscription-only options – with AVODs marking a 29% increase in U.S. homes in 2022 versus a 21% increase in SVODs for the same period. An earlier survey from DeepIntent and LG Ads Solutions found the tradeoff of ads for lower costs is favorable for CTV viewers, finding 64% of CTV watchers would rather see ads than pay more for a subscription service.
Future Today said big brands can take advantage of the CTV opportunity by easily creating, promoting and monetizing streaming channels with video content they already have.
“Brands in every category are already investing billions in video content to better connect with and engage their target audience,” said Vikrant Mathur, co-Founder, Future Today. “With our CaaS offering, we can help them activate that content in the CTV environment, where the audience is exploding, through dedicated, branded channels.”
It already partnered with Lego back in 2019 to launch The Lego Channel content channel for kids across major streaming platforms in the U.S. and Canada, initially on The Roku Channel, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. Plans for that channel involved using Lego Ninjago, Friends, and City brands, as well as behind-the-scenes content with Lego Designer Set Reviews.
Future Today sees 2021 growth, creates CTV ad sales team
The expansion comes after a successful 2021 for Future Today, where it saw both advertising and viewership growth – as well as a recent push in June to pump up sales staff on the CTV front.
In January Future Today said average CPM jumped 25% year over year in November thanks to tech advances and greater capabilities in contextual and demographic targeting. Total watch time across the platform increased 85% year over year in Q3, streaming more than 63 million hours of content in November alone.
As Future Today pushes ahead with AVOD efforts, last month it made the move to form FTI+, a dedicated sales team that works directly with top advertisers across categories – citing the same industries as today’s CaaS announcement – retail CPG, travel, insurance, auto, and QSR.
“We’re launching FTI+ in response to the challenges that we see the advertisers struggling with as they try to migrate more budgets to streaming,” said Jennifer D’Alessandro, Head of Ad Sales & Marketing, Future Today, in a statement at the time.
She added that fragmentation in the industry can make media buying for CTV a daunting task.
“A publisher’s inventory often shows up in multiple places leading to confusion around its true source and scale, while the delivery for a single campaign is often dispersed through different demand platforms leading to waste and poor user experience,” D’Alessandro continued. “AVOD viewership is booming and advertisers are following audiences to these platforms. However, in order to meet the opportunity, publishers and tech partners must make the buying process easy-to-understand, efficient, and transparent."
Future Today manages over 500 OTT channels, with more than 60,000 hours of content. The company’s proprietary, cloud-based technology platform manages OTT services for hundreds of content owners, distributors and major media distributors (it works with more than 130 content partners) and touts 15 million monthly households and over 110 million app downloads across major CTV platforms.
According to the company’s website, Future Today has 21 out of the top 50 kids channels on Roku and FireTV, while Filmrise and Fawesome rank on Roku’s top 10 list in 2021.