Samsung’s Ana Izquierdo Lowry on the potential for live FAST events
Ana Izquierdo Lowry, head of business development for Samsung TV Plus in Spain, gives her opinion on the evolution of the FAST segment in the industry and details what type of channels and content she is looking for.
Ana Izquierdo Lowry
According to data from Samsung, increasing numbers of viewers in Spain are using the Korean manufacturer’s televisions to stream digital content.
“While linear TV consumption is on a plateau, FAST is growing tremendously year after year. If you look closely at the younger groups, they are not at all into linear TV,” says Ana Izquierdo Lowry, head of business development for Samsung TV Plus in Spain.
“Judging by the KPIs (key performance indicators) we are seeing, I think FAST is going to grow a lot. We are already seeing how it is growing at the expense of general television. You can easily see this reality if you compare where FAST is today compared to five years ago,” he says.
To continue this momentum, the executive is now testing new content strategies and seeking synergies between different international teams of the Samsung TV Plus service, including Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan, Paris and Latin America.
What’s the strategy behind Samsung TV Plus’ offer in Spain?
The offer in Spain involves a mix of channels that can be single-branded or multi-branded within the same channel. There are also general linear channels that already exist, as we have done with RTVE or Canal Sur, which we will continue to add in 2025.
The strategy is to bring in content from abroad and also produced in Spain, covering all genres: news, series, films, soap operas, children’s channels, sports. We place special emphasis on live events, because we have seen that they work very well for us and we also plan to expand the VoD offer in 2025.
We have channels that we keep running for a minimum of one year, and if it works, it can continue for longer. Another option is seasonal pop-up channels, which are there for a certain period of time, for example, at Christmas.
I am currently working on bringing the single IP channel for Moisés y los diez mandamientos (Moses and the Ten Commandments), a top-rated soap opera from Record TV that is number one on Samsung TV Plus in Brazil. In this particular case, the idea is to have it all year round. We have also set up two single IP channels with two RTVE series: Cuéntame cómo pasó and Acacias 38.
Long-running Spanish drama series Cuéntame cómo pasó
What must a brand have to become a single-IP channel?
They must be very voluminous, as in the case of ‘Moisés’, which has 176 episodes. Otherwise, the level of repetition is very high.
How do you see the growth of live content on FAST?
At the moment, it’s mainly sports. For economic reasons, what we’re doing is agreements to integrate channels that have the rights to the competitions into Samsung TV Plus. For example, in Spain in 2024 we’ve had the Euros and the Olympic Games through RTVE channels, as well as the women’s football World Cup.
For the future, I imagine we will try to explore music content. Right now we are going to launch a channel with Universal Music that will include all the music from the artists in their portfolio. I would love to explore the possibility of doing a concert.
There have been reports of collaborations between supposed FAST “competitors” to boost the segment. What is your view on this strategy?
The collaboration is very interesting and we have agreements, for example, with Pluto TV, which gives us channels like SpongeBob and also with Rakuten. In 2024, we have brought seven channels from Sony Spain. When there is a business opportunity, we are super open to this type of agreement and hopefully more will come.
Are advertisers still hesitant to invest in FAST?
Initially, you may have been more concerned about brand safety, content quality, or the possibility of fraud, such as ad impressions that may not be delivered. To avoid this, Samsung Ads uses trackers and has technically reduced this possibility to zero.
I think that as the segment matures, these false myths are being dismantled, because there is evidence that FAST has been very well received by the industry. We work with major brands to bring quality content, therefore, the risk of having advertising associated with uncontrolled content is practically zero.
Do you think FAST’s growth has a limit?
Judging by the KPIs we are seeing, I think that FAST is going to grow a lot. We are already seeing how it is growing to the detriment of general television, which in the future will concentrate on big events, very high-budget programmes, big sporting competitions. You can easily see this reality if you compare where FAST was five years ago and where we are now.
Do you have plans to make your own original productions for FAST?
This is the million-dollar question we get from all producers who are looking for partners to produce their content. At the moment, it is not on our roadmap: we have not seen the need to allocate a budget to produce original content. I suppose that everything will come in the long term.
