TV news is betting on free streaming

Media outlets turn to ad-based platforms such as Tubi to reach younger audiences.

- BY STEPHEN BATTAGLIO

BBC NEWS anchors Caítriona Perry, left, and Sumi Somaskanda at the broadcaster's Washington studio.

Now you can be a cordcutter and a TV news junkie too.

That's because consumers who are giving up pay TV are finding a growing array of options outside the cable bundle providing national and local news.

Look up at the screen at the local nail salon or bagel shop, and where you once might have seen CNN, Fox News or CNBC might be a free channel serving up headlines.

For purveyors of TV news, the streaming channels have become a bigger part of their future as the habit of traditional viewing fades and a new generation relies on information from TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms.

More consumers are discovering national and local news content on what the media industry calls free ad-supported streaming television or FAST- channels. Internet-connected television sets with free streaming TV platforms such as Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku and Samsung TV Plus built into them are making the offerings easier to find.

Ethan Cramer-Flood, a principal forecast writer for the media research firm Emarketer, tracks the growth of FAST channels. But it wasn't until he recently cut the cord himself that he realized he could get his local news from New York stations such as WABC-TV anytime he wanted streamed through his Roku device.

"After cutting the cord, one of the things I had been missing was news," CramerFlood said. "The channels are all right there. They are showing their news segments and newscasts all day long. You can just go on it and catch a half-hour."

The news-viewing habit is growing as FAST channel usage steadily increases. Emarketer data put the number of U.S. consumers watching FAST at 116.8 million, and the figure is projected to reach 130 million by the end of the decade.

Cramer-Flood said that internet-connected TV sets are making FAST channels as convenient to watch as cable channels.