Media Strategy
Gen Z doesn't have a fried attention span; their brains simply demand multi-layered sensory stimulation. From Sludge Content and Lore Dumps to Reacts and Fancams, discover the six hyper-kinetic video formats dominating youth watch time and learn how legacy media can weaponize them to win back CTV.
Media Strategy
The 30-second trailer is dead. Audiences don't want to watch your commercial; they want to play it. Summer Walker's "No Wac-Man" web game proves gamification is the future of entertainment marketing. It captures first-party data and kills ad-skipping. Here is the playbook to build your own.
Media Strategy
The Paramount-WBD and TikTok integration kills the traditional marketing playbook. To win Gen Z, studios must stop buying trailers and start weaponizing their 15,000-title vault through Sludge, Lore, and React formats. Here is the $100M blueprint for cultural immortality.
Media Strategy
In 2020, I mapped the Viewniverse and warned that porting linear habits to streaming would fail. Six years later, the data proves it: premium FAST is a reality, ad-free utopias are dead, and broadcast is just a funnel. Here is the scorecard, and the survival playbook for Bundle 2.0 in 2026.
Media Strategy
Why don't we have a 'Nielsen of FAST'? Because the industry is lying to itself. I break down the definitional crisis inflating FAST projections by billions, and analyze the three options—from Playout Vendors to a Buy-Side Mandate—that could finally solve the measurement puzzle.
FASTMaster on FAST
Pluto TV’s stealthy naming strategy, the UX danger of the 235-channel Local News Avalanche, and why Kids FAST is actually just 90s nostalgia bait for Millennials. The FASTMaster breaks down the strategic shifts behind the 1,572 channels across the Top 9 platforms.
Reports
The Profitability Wars are here. Our first FASTMaster Intelligence report provides an executive deep-dive into streaming CPM benchmarks, programmatic tech tax leakage, and the retail media revolution. Stop guessing and start navigating the 2026 streaming economy with hard data.
FASTMaster on FAST
The race for FAST scale has backfired. Zombie inventory is depressing ad rates and poisoning the ecosystem. With supply outpacing demand, hitting 600 channels isn't growth—it's devaluation. To restore profitability, platforms must embrace scarcity over volume and kill the long-tail bloat.
Reports
EXCLUSIVE: New FASTMaster forecasts predict the microdrama market could reach $36.5B by 2028. We analyze the Strategic Normalization driving this growth, detailing the latest moves from Fox, TikTok, and Disney in this comprehensive market dossier.
FASTMaster on FAST
Creator FAST channels have exploded 145% since 2024, but platforms are building zombie feeds. By forcing Gen Z into 1999-style grids and stripping away interactivity, they’ve created a passive archive, not a destination. To fix this, the EPG must die and "Live" must become real.
Chart of the Week
FAST Sports isn't about Major Leagues; it's about the 'Shoulder Economy.' Tier 1 leagues use it for highlights, while the EPG is filled by a long tail of 50+ Combat & Niche channels. It’s an ecosystem defined by the density of available rights, not the scarcity of exclusive games.
The Vitality Index
TV is hollowed out, but not dead. While the Big 4 dominate, the real story is in the niches. I explain why Bounce TV has overtaken BET, why Tubi is eating Lifetime's lunch, and why Fox News is the secret weapon for reaching young adults on cable.