The Audience Shift: How FAST/AVOD Is Redefining Reach (Part 2)

Linear Reach Is Shrinking: Quietly, but Significantly 

This article is part of Rakuten TV’s The Audience Shift series, exploring how evolving viewing habits are transforming the future of advertising.

Linear TV has long been the cornerstone of reach-based planning. But as audiences diversify their viewing habits, the definition of “total reach” has changed, and many advertisers haven’t yet caught up. 

Rakuten TV’s Unlocking New Audiences report shows that 44% of FAST/AVOD viewers do not watch Linear TV at all. 
That means nearly half of this audience is completely unreachable through traditional broadcast campaigns. 

At the same time, 21% of all respondents say they’ve decreased their Linear TV consumption over the past year: a steady erosion that adds up to substantial lost reach. 

For agencies and brands accustomed to counting on Linear for mass exposure, this is a wake-up call: even large, well-funded TV plans are no longer hitting every household they once did. 

FAST/AVOD: Expanding Reach, Not Replacing It 

The misconception is that FAST/AVOD competes with Linear. In reality, it complements it.

FAST and AVOD platforms reach the cord-cutters – viewers who have left traditional TV behind – and the cord-nevers – younger audiences who never subscribed in the first place. These viewers still want the TV experience: high-quality content, long-form

 storytelling, and lean-back moments. They just want it on their own terms, and often, for free.

By including FAST/AVOD in the media mix, advertisers don’t duplicate impressions — they add them. The result is true incremental reach: new impressions, new audiences, and new opportunities to connect.

Reimagining “Total Video” Planning 

For major advertisers, the challenge isn’t just media fragmentation, it’s measurement.

The traditional reach curve no longer tells the full story. Adding more budget to Linear can’t reach audiences who aren’t there.
Integrating FAST/AVOD means accounting for viewing behaviours that have shifted entirely to connected environments.

For agencies and planners, this requires a mindset shift:
FAST/AVOD isn’t an “emerging” format anymore, it’s an essential channel for achieving complete audience coverage.

What It Means for Advertisers

• Extend total reach: FAST/AVOD captures audiences missed by Linear.

• Enhance efficiency: Reach more households without overexposing the same viewers.

• Future-proof campaigns: Build plans that evolve with changing viewing behaviours.

The smartest media strategies today don’t just optimize Linear, they redefine it, extending its storytelling power through the growing world of ad-supported streaming.

Explore the Full Insights

This article draws on data from Rakuten TV’s Unlocking New Audiences research, based on a June 2025 survey of consumers across Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. The study explores attitudes and viewing behaviour across the TV and streaming landscape to uncover how audiences engage with FAST/AVOD, Linear TV, and SVOD services.