Free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services are the most common way in which consumers watch live television, according to Horowitz Research’s “State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Viewing Behavior 2025.”
Forty percent of viewers say that they watch live TV on FAST. That is followed by traditional cable/satellite providers (36%), subscription streaming services (33%), YouTube (19%), and virtual MVPD services (16%).
Younger live viewers (53% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 47% of consumers ages 35-49) are much more likely to use FAST to watch live TV content than those in the over 50-year-old cohort, which uses free streaming services only 29% of the time.
Overall, 85% of American consumers watch at least some live TV. The three top types are sports, news, and current episodes of new TV shows. These and other live genres are watched by 91% of those older than 50 years of age. That is followed by 78% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 81% of 35- to 49-year-olds. Fifty-seven percent of consumers spend at least half of their viewing time with live content.
“The rising dominance of FAST services for live TV viewing is an important and welcome development for everyone in the media ecosystem,” Adriana Waterston, executive vice president and insights and strategy lead for Horowitz Research.
“It is critical for the health of the media ecosystem to offset the loss of advertising revenue in the traditional television space, and FAST is providing that path to sorely needed equilibrium. Further, it is giving advertisers a direct route to younger, Gen Z audiences, whom traditional TV advertising has not been effective at reaching.”