NBCU Local chairman: Roku, Samsung drive NBC local FAST channels, Peacock additive | StreamTV Insider

Third-party free ad-supported streaming distributors like Roku and Samsung TV Plus are a bigger driver of success for NBCU-owned local FAST channels than its own Peacock, according to NBCUniversal Local Chairman Valari Dobson Staab.

Since 2022 NBCU has launched over a dozen local FAST channels, including owned-and-operated NBC local broadcast stations as well as regional Spanish-language Telemundo FAST channels, which count distribution across a variety of platforms.

Staab’s comments came last week during a panel session of station leaders at NAB NY, where the moderator asked whether NBC-owned local streaming FAST channels inside of Peacock have had a demonstrable impact and driven quantifiable revenue or audience growth for the division. In response, the NBC Local chairman gave kudos to third-party distribution platforms.

“Our actual FAST channels on Peacock are not that big of a driver for our [NBC-owned station] FAST channels,” Staab said, without sharing specific stats in terms of revenue or engagement. “Our FAST channels’ real success is on Roku and Samsung TV” and those types of platforms, not necessarily Peacock itself, she continued.

In addition to The Roku Channel and Samsung TV Plus, NBC Local FAST channels are available on Amazon’s Freevee and Fire TV, Local Now, Google TV and TCL, among others.

That’s not to say NBCU-owned local FAST channels on Peacock aren’t useful, where the chair pointed to the NBCU-owned streaming platform as a place that can sell local inventory via the NBCU Spot On product, utilize and repurpose long-form content produced by NBC’s owned local stations, and also draw wider audiences with simulcasts of major events and sports.

“We’re on Peacock but it’s not that much of a driver [for NBC-owned local FAST channels],” Staab acknowledged. “Where Peacock has been additive to the owned-station division is obviously through Spot On, being able to sell that inventory, but also they’ve taken a lot of the long form that our stations do,” she continued. For example, Staab cited following crime stories in local markets or revisiting past reporting with new updates, enabling monetization through Peacock with the FAST channels.

Building off that, she said NBC is launching a new diginet brand called American Crime, which will have Dateline, Locked Up and several other programs, as well as its local crime brand.

And simulcasts of big events and sports on local NBC FAST channels on Peacock have also been additive to NBC-owned stations’ overall audience, she added. Peacock also helps with local ad sales.

“We can sell our local time on the actual Peacock stream, so that give us additional advertising to sell,” Staab added.

As mentioned, it’s seen particular success with implementation of the NBC Spot On local OTT/CTV ad sales platform that launched during the pandemic, which enables OTT ad sales across local markets, with third-party inventory, NBC-owned station inventory, and streaming inventory on Peacock. This has helped replace some of the traditional liner losses the division experienced, per Staab.

When it comes to owners of local broadcast stations seeking to reach audiences and generate revenue amid broader traditional pay TV declines, ubiquitous distribution – including through FAST on third-party platforms - is part of the picture, as others also discussed during a separate panel at NAB.

Viewers continue to utilize free ad-supported streaming options, with TiVo’s Q2 2024 Video Trends Report showing around 62% of U.S. consumers use at least one AVOD or FAST service. Among those, 20.6% report using AVOD/FAST to watch live linear news channels – down slightly from the 22% that reported doing so in Q2 2023.

As for specific platforms, Roku’s The Roku Channel, accounted for 1.7% share of total TV time in the U.S. during August, per Nielsen’s The Gauge, (just behind Fox’s Tubi at 1.8% share, while the Peacock SVOD garnered 2.1% share that month). NBC started launching local news FAST channels on third-party platforms a couple of years ago, which Staab said are now getting monetized. And station owners see demand for local programming but indicated a desire to be wherever consumers can access them as viewers continue to migrate to streaming and new platforms.

“What we’re really going through is a disruption of distribution. We’re not going through a rejection of local news. People still need and want local news information,” said Staab.

“They are getting [local programming] in different ways, they want it in different ways,” she continued. “But we’ve seen with the launch of our FAST channels, astronomical, huge usage on these new platforms.”

She pointed to tentpole events like the Paris Olympics and major storms (as Hurricane Milton last week was barreling down on Florida), “where people come in droves back to local news.”

Staab went on to say that local broadcast is one medium that “has the potential to reach 100% of the market” thanks to over-the-air, linear MVPD distribution and streaming or OTT – whereas other mediums have gaps in distribution. And while the NBC Local chairman noted streaming’s strength in frequency for advertising, she emphasized the continued importance of traditional linear for broad reach.

NBCU overall is riding a strong summer, driven in large part by the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, which saw smash viewership, alongside ad sales, across both linear and digital platforms including on Peacock.

It’s not the only broadcaster that’s jumped into streaming, where others like CBS and groups like Scripps and Hearst are also in the mix, as local advertisers also seek ways to reach audiences on CTV.

Nexstar Media Group, meanwhile, was on the panel at NAB, during which the moderator categorized the broadcaster as somewhat more reticent than others to dive into streaming.

Andy Alford, president of broadcasting at Nexstar, suggested that’s not the case, but instead emphasized a careful approach, where the company is investing where it knows it can monetize. He noted Nexstar has launched streaming apps in most of its larger markets like New York, LA, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

When it decides to pursue new avenues, the broadcasting president said Nexstar invests a lot want to ensure that it can easily monetize and that there’s revenue potential. It’s gearing up for a broader streaming rollout early next year.

“We’ve tested our products in different places, different approaches. I think is what you’re going to see in early ’25 is a more significant roll out into a lot of our markets, in multiple phases,” Alford said. “And our focus is going to be on making sure we can provide the user with unique content in these situations, rather than just streaming existing content.”

Nexstar’s steaming efforts include a free ad-supported app for The CW network, its NewsNation CTV app and The Hill TV streaming channel. Nexstar-owned local broadcast affiliates can also be found on virtual MVPD streaming platforms offering cable-like lineups such as YouTube TV, Fubo TV, Hulu with Live TV and others.