Every year, StreamTV Show offers a snapshot of where the streaming industry is heading.
This year in Denver, one theme came through louder: the challenge is no longer building FAST channels, it's making them more valuable.
The conversation has shifted. A few years ago, the industry was focused on launching more channels, reaching more devices and expanding distribution. Today, viewership is strong, audiences are engaged, and FAST has firmly established itself as a core part of the television landscape.
The next chapter is about something far more difficult: turning scale into sustainable monetization.
That was exactly the focus of the panel our CEO, Sebastian Braun, joined alongside industry leaders from Revry, Tastemade, Wurl and Fuse Media at StreamTV Denver.
Watch the Panel Discussion
Before diving into the key takeaways, watch the full StreamTV Show 2026 panel discussion featuring Sebastian Braun, CEO of 24i, alongside leaders from Revry, Tastemade, Wurl, and Fuse Media.
More channels aren't the answer
One of Sebastian's comments captured the mood of the room perfectly:
"We have to scale. We don't need more channels. Viewership is good. We need to precisely understand the viewer to target them better."
It's a simple observation, but it reflects a significant shift happening across streaming.
FAST is no longer suffering from a lack of inventory or content. If anything, the opposite is true. The challenge today is helping advertisers understand who they're reaching, when they're reaching them, and why that audience matters.
Success isn't about adding another channel to the guide. It's about creating higher-value audiences.
Data is becoming the real competitive advantage
Throughout the discussion, one idea kept resurfacing: the companies that understand their audiences best will ultimately win.
Not because they collect the most data, but because they can transform viewer signals into meaningful insight.
That sentiment was echoed by one of our customers, Revry. Speaking about their partnership with 24i, Revry COO and Co-Founder Alia explained:
"The data that Sebastian's talking about has been incredibly vital with the work that we're doing."
She went on to describe how Revry uses audience intelligence to optimise experiences for its highly engaged audience, creating stronger engagement while helping advertisers connect with viewers in more relevant ways.
Later in the discussion, she reinforced the value of that partnership:
"It's with the data that we're able to get through our partnership with 24i that's helping us continue to optimise that experience for our audience as well as for our advertisers."
For us, hearing customers describe the impact of our platform on stage is more meaningful than any product presentation we could give ourselves.
Context matters as much as content
Another major takeaway from the panel was that audience understanding goes far beyond demographics.
The industry is increasingly looking at:
- viewer intent
- contextual signals
- emotional relevance
- engagement quality
- moments within content, not just audiences as a whole
The discussion explored everything from AI-powered contextual advertising to scene-level targeting and smarter ad experiences that feel less disruptive for viewers.
Across every example, the common thread was clear: better viewer experiences create better advertising outcomes.
That's good for audiences, publishers and advertisers alike.
Breaking down the data walls
Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the industry is fragmentation.
Viewers move between YouTube, FAST services, broadcaster apps, subscription platforms and social media without thinking twice.
Their data, however, doesn't move with them.
Sebastian closed the panel by calling for a more open ecosystem where publishers, not just platforms, can build a complete understanding of their audiences.
His vision?
A future where data can be responsibly combined across platforms to create a richer, privacy-conscious understanding of viewers.
As he put it:
"I'd love to see more openness and independence... take data from YouTube, your own platform, Pluto, Tubi, wherever your audience is, and build a cohesive profile that helps content owners understand the attention they're creating."
It wasn't simply a call for more data. It was a call for giving ownership back to the people creating the content.
A proud week for 24i
Beyond the conversations on stage, StreamTV Denver was also a proud moment for our team.
We were honoured to be named a finalist in the Innovation in Advertising category at the StreamTV Awards, a recognition of the work we're doing to help streaming businesses better understand audiences and unlock greater advertising value.
The future of streaming is quality, not quantity
If there was one message that defined StreamTV Denver 2026, it was this:
The battle for streaming isn't about attention anymore. It's about the quality of that attention.
The winners won't simply have the biggest content libraries or the largest number of channels.
They'll be the companies that understand their audiences deeply, create meaningful viewing experiences and help advertisers reach the right people at the right moments.
That's exactly the future we're building towards at 24i, and after the conversations in Denver, it's clear the industry is heading there too.
Download Our Ebook
