In 2023, FAST remains one of the most talked about growth sectors in all of media. Amidst all the hype many different players have entered the market with FAST channels developing from the margins of the industry to being front and centre in discussions with all stakeholders. According to the latest FAST Tracker data, in the US alone there have been over 1,300 channel launches on platforms from over 230 different channel owners since March 2023. In the same amount of time over 1,000 channels have been removed from a platform. This churn comes as platforms focus on optimising their offer as better content comes to the market, in particular as major Studios and Broadcasters come to FAST and bring quality content with them.
While the likes of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery benefit from extensive libraries of beloved content and far reaching networks, smaller AVOD specialists such as FilmRise and Cineverse have built their own catalogues of niche long-tail channels for many years. So, which channels and channel owners are securing the most extensive distribution? Analysing the distribution data across all the FAST Tracker markets and platforms, we can see some interesting trends across the top 10.
FAST Tracker data highlights that across the FAST services tracked the top three FAST channels for distribution channels are all owned by Trusted Media Brands (previously Jukin Media). “The Pet Collective”, “FailArmy” and “People Are Awesome” utilise community driven content, including social media viral videos with global appeal. The Trusted Media Brands’ channels achieve this distribution in part because they contain accessible short form content that travels well. Many of the other top 10 channels are also language agnostic, with only the “Unsolved Mysteries” channel requiring dubbing. The other less language heavy channels include a motorsports channel, a poker tournament channel and Stingray’s ambient nature scape channel.
The two Bloomberg channels also show how news and opinion channels are very much a cornerstone in most territories and give insight into how many consumers are using FAST as a major source for their news feed.
"Unsolved Mysteries” benefits significantly from being one of the few popular channels versioned in Spanish and Portuguese, highlighting the importance of localisation and dubbing in bringing a broad and scalable model to launching in FAST. In the US, five of the twelve platforms that have the “Unsolved Mysteries” channel also show the Spanish speaking version.
According to the latest FAST Tracker data, the single IP channels “World Poker Tour” and “Unsolved Mysteries" lead in terms of distribution, with “America’s Funniest Videos” coming in as third - sharing perhaps some of the appeal that Trusted Media short form viral videos offer. True Crime and Investigation shows are said to have done well in FAST environments and this is reflected here, with “Forensic Files” and “Catfish: The TV Show” both securing good distribution alongside Unsolved Mysteries, with the former mainly being in the US while the latter is mostly distributed around Europe.
“Yu-Gi-Oh!”, the popular Japanese anime, is the highest scripted single IP channel on the list. Receiving a lot of distribution in Europe, the channel has been versioned in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese. The other scripted channel, “Highway to Heaven”, features episodes of the US fantasy drama series and is also dubbed into Spanish and German.
"IMPACT Wrestling” and “Strongman Champions League” highlight how niche sports channels are also currently performing well and getting scalable distribution in FAST.
US Studios and Broadcaster have not prioritised the international FAST market as they focused on the US opportunity and held back from resolving the typical challenges that come from expanding into overseas markets. Currently focusing on the US, they are taking their time to identify the right markets and platforms to target, globally, before they set out versioning and programming their content. Warner Bros. Discovery continue to strengthen their lineup in the US, recently launching 37 channels on Amazon Freevee, however, we expect them and other major US stakeholders to look to other growth markets in the future.
In terms of distribution, localisation is a key issue for both scripted and unscripted channels as premium content from the major stakeholders needs to capture local audiences. While we will likely see more channels get full dubbing in multiple languages, similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh! channel, we will likely see the more premium content come from established local players as platforms look to tap into local audiences. In Europe, players such as ITV, UKTV and ZDF have all got involved in FAST recently and we expect to see more activity in this space in the coming months as platforms look to get a foothold in key growth markets.
Want to stay in the loop with everything happening with FAST? Get regular insights from our analysts on the latest trends, delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to our FAST Tracker Insights below.
.svg)
