Bengaluru: Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming and monetisation, has released the June 2026 edition of its AIRTIME Report, highlighting continued momentum in the global Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) ecosystem alongside growing concerns over metadata management across the media value chain.
The quarterly report analyses data from approximately 6,500 FAST channel deliveries distributed through Amagi THUNDERSTORM, the company’s server-side ad insertion (SSAI) platform, covering the period from April 1 to June 15, 2026, compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
According to the report, global FAST viewing hours (HOV) increased 55% year-on-year, while ad impressions rose 53%. The United States and Canada continued to dominate monetisation, accounting for 54% of global viewing hours and 74% of ad impressions.
Among regional markets, Latin America emerged as the fastest-growing region, recording a 190% increase in viewing hours and a 124% rise in ad impressions, driven by the addition of new high-viewership channels and continued portfolio expansion.
Entertainment remained the largest content category globally, contributing 41% of classified viewing hours and 40% of ad impressions. News accounted for 27% of viewing hours while generating 33% of ad impressions, making it one of the strongest monetising genres. The Kids category registered the fastest growth, with viewing hours increasing 191% and ad impressions rising 118% year-on-year.
The report’s central theme, “The Metadata Reckoning,” examines the operational and commercial impact of inconsistent metadata across the FAST ecosystem. Findings are based on a pulse survey of 28 senior media professionals representing content owners, broadcasters, channel operators, streaming platforms, advertising teams and technology providers.
Among the key findings, 86% of respondents identified reformatting metadata to meet varying platform requirements as their biggest operational challenge, while an equal proportion said poor metadata was directly affecting revenue through weaker content discovery, reduced advertising opportunities or lower platform prioritisation. The survey also found that 71% of respondents believe metadata supplied by content owners is often incomplete, and 68% expect AI to handle most metadata generation with minimal human oversight within the next three years.
Investment priorities also reflected the growing importance of automation, with 32% of respondents planning to invest in AI-powered metadata tools over the next 12 months, while 25% intend to strengthen in-house metadata capabilities.
The report also features guest analysis from Gavin Bridge, Chief Analyst at FASTMaster, who examines structural challenges around metadata standardisation, platform fragmentation and AI-driven content discovery.
Bridge summarizes the strategic implication for content owners: “The metadata that wins is the kind that can be consumed by agents — human and AI. Bad metadata won’t just look wrong in a grid; it’ll be invisible to the systems doing the recommending.”
Commenting on the report findings, Srinivasan KA, Co-founder and President – Global Business, Amagi said, “FAST has earned its place at the centre of the modern media stack. What this report makes clear is that the next competitive edge isn’t reach; it’s operational precision.” He further added, “Metadata is where discovery, ad revenue, and audience intelligence converge, and the industry is only beginning to close the gap between what it knows and what it acts on.”
The June 2026 AIRTIME Report marks the 17th edition of Amagi’s quarterly publication, which tracks FAST channel trends, advertising market developments and media operations. The company noted that the findings are based on data from approximately 6,500 channel deliveries on Amagi THUNDERSTORM and are intended to provide directional insights rather than represent the FAST industry as a whole. Similarly, the survey findings are based on responses from 28 industry practitioners and are not statistically representative of the broader market.
