• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 11, 2025

Could FAST channels evolve into big-time destinations for viewers? Newer programs and even exclusive content will be major lures.

This attention likely was driven by Fox Corp.’s decision in February to simulcast “Super Bowl LIX” on Tubi with that of its broadcast platform — the Fox Television Network.

For many, this was a massive marketing effort to make viewers more comfortable with watching premium live TV content on these channels — free, ad-supported streaming television — by airing the biggest single TV program every year in terms of viewership.

Tim Cutting, chief revenue officer of Nielsen’s Gracenote, says: “The airing of the Super Bowl LIX was a clear turning point, but an analysis of the content being curated, packaged and distributed in FAST channels highlights just how far the content has evolved from its early days."

Fresher original programming continues to improve on FAST. Cutting notes that now more than 70% of the programming on FAST channels was made in 2010 or later — 34% since 2020 and 36% from 2010-2019.

This comes, in just under two years, as the number of FAST channels has increased by 42% to more than 1,610, according to Gracenote’s Global Video Data — while older products continue to take a back seat on those channels. Only 13% of the available content was made before 1990.

Good news for FAST growth is familiarity and easy access among plenty of FAST platforms for the similar content. For example, sports fans can watch NFL Channel, MLB Channel, and PGA Tour Channel on either Pluto TV, Tubi and Roku Channel.

Cutting says FAST sports-focused channels are actually “more extensive” than that on premium subscription streaming channels — and not just sports. E.W. Scripps’ GRIT Xtra channel, for example, is available on 12 different FAST services.

But all that may now change. “Super Bowl LIX” was exclusive to one streaming channel — Tubi. Cutting says this “illustrates the next phrase of the FAST landscape.”

Exclusive programming/content deals on specific streaming channels will grow.

Given the ever deeper and more extensive library programming on more than 1,600 FAST channels, Cutting says, the next step is to make it easier for program discovery.

“Enhanced user experiences will be critical in helping viewers find something to watch,” he says. New discovery content on-screen platform “will carve out a new persona for FAST — one that buries the ‘old is new’ moniker in the past.”