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The streaming landscape is changing rapidly with the rise of FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) and AVOD (Advertising-Based Video on Demand) platforms. These models rely on scale—reaching global audiences with free access and monetizing through ads. But as usage grows, so does the challenge: how do you protect that content without undermining the very accessibility that drives success?
It might be tempting to think Digital Rights Management (DRM) is less critical when content is offered for free. However, the business implications tell a different story. Content piracy and revenue loss pose serious threats even to ad-supported models. An unprotected FAST stream can be captured and re-broadcast by pirates with ease, often stripping out your ads and inserting their own. No OTT service can afford to let others hijack their audience and monetization like that.
Both advertisers and content owners expect a secure environment. Advertisers want assurance their brands won’t appear alongside pirated or tampered content, while studios often require DRM as a condition for licensing premium titles. Failing to meet these requirements could mean losing out on attractive content rights or facing legal liabilities. It’s no surprise that most well-known free streaming platforms like UVOtv, Tubi, and Roku’s channels already employ DRM and other security measures, even though their content is free-to-view.
The challenge is integrating a DRM solution in a way that doesn’t kill your viewer reach or ruin the user experience. A key strategy is to make security as seamless and broad as possible. Device fragmentation is a major consideration, since our audience watches on everything from smart TVs and streaming sticks to web browsers and mobile apps. If your DRM isn’t supported on certain devices, you’ll lose those viewers (and their ad impressions).
To maximize reach, a multi-DRM approach is non-negotiable. Your solution should cover all the big DRM systems—Widevine, FairPlay, PlayReady—to ensure authorized playback on virtually any popular device or platform. Modern multi-DRM providers make this easier by offering cloud-based DRM as a service, often in a usage-based, pay-as-you-go model. This means you can protect content without huge upfront fees, and seamlessly scale up during traffic spikes or live events, paying only for what you actually use.
Another consideration is calibrating the level of security to your content and audience. Not all content demands the strictest DRM settings. For example, a local news FAST channel with older library content might not need the same heavy-duty protection (like hardware root-of-trust enforcement or forensic watermarking) that a premium 4K movie does. In freemium or AVOD services, the priority is often fast deployment, user accessibility, and cost containment. This means you should aim for “good enough” DRM that meets obligations without over-engineering.
The most strategic DRM deployments start with a business perspective: weigh the content’s value and risk against potential impacts on workflow and user experience. In practice, this might involve using standard DRM encryption but being careful with things like concurrency limits or offline viewing rules to avoid frustrating genuine users.
One pitfall to watch is playback latency or disruptions caused by DRM processes. Every DRM license check and content decryption takes a bit of time and computing power. On modern devices this is usually milliseconds and invisible to the user, but on older or low-powered devices, heavy DRM overhead can cause noticeable lag or even playback failures during high-traffic moments.
To prevent this, ensure your DRM solution is well-integrated with your streaming platform: the DRM license server, content delivery network (CDN), and video player app should work in lockstep. For example, when inserting ads (a frequent occurrence in FAST/AVOD), coordinate your ad server or SSAI (Server-Side Ad Insertion) with DRM so that switching between content and ads doesn’t trigger errors or long re-buffering. Many platforms choose to encrypt both content and ads under the same DRM system or use server-side stitching to deliver a single continuous, protected stream. The result should be that viewers hardly notice DRM is there at all – no extra steps, no frequent logins, just hit “play” and enjoy the show.
That’s why many operators combine DRM with measures like forensic watermarking and monitoring for a multi-layered defense, especially for live sports and other high-value live content. The silver lining is that by securing your platform, you not only discourage casual piracy, you also unlock business upsides—studios feel safe licensing you their best content.
Finally, think globally. For global services, it’s important DRM doesn’t create extra friction—especially in regions with slower internet. Using adaptive streaming formats (like HLS or DASH) helps by maintaining encryption while adjusting quality dynamically.
By choosing a flexible multi-DRM platform and aligning it with your content strategy, you can safeguard your streams while keeping them widely available. This means covering all popular devices and apps, scaling cost-effectively in the cloud, and tuning security levels to match content value.
The payoff for getting this right is significant: you preserve trust with content providers and advertisers, protect your ad income from piracy leakage, and maintain a smooth viewer experience that keeps audiences coming back.
