FAST Channels Part One: Samsung, ATP Media, Telstra Discuss Ins and Outs of Launching, Managing Free Ad-Supported Streaming Sportel Monaco session dives deep into the elements of FAST success By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, December 4, 2023 - 10:14 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The rise of FAST (free ad-supported streaming) has been undeniable in the past two years, and a recent Sportel Monaco panel, moderated by SVG Co-Executive Director Ken Kerschbaumer, featured three key entities either involved in or seriously investigating a FAST sports service: Samsung (represented by Chris Gregory, strategic content partner, lead, Samsung TV Plus); Telstra Broadcast Services (Anna Lockwood, head of EMEA/Americas, Telstra Broadcast Services); and ATP Media (Alan Bruno, head of broadcast development, ATP Media). Below is Part 1 of a two-part edited transcript from that conversation, which examines what FAST channels are, how to get started, and more.
FAST Channels will also be front and center at SVG's Digital Engagement Workshop on Dec. 11 as part of the 2023 SVG Summit in New York City (click here to register today!).
FAST panel at Sportel: (from left) ATP Media's Alan Bruno, Samsung's Chris Gregory, Telstra Broadcast Services' Anna Lockwood, and moderator SVG's Ken Kerschbaumer
Chris, can you walk us through what FAST is from the Samsung-platform perspective?
Gregory: Sure. So, what is FAST? Free ad-supported streaming television. And Samsung, which is the number-one TV manufacturer in the world, was the very first adopter of the FAST platform, launched in the U.S. in 2015. My remit is Europe, [with] 16 countries in the European service and around 1,300 channels across 250 partners. That's a lot of partners to look after, and they range across all genres.
I think what we're looking at now is more broadcast-quality partners, moving into that space rather than potentially digital first. Sport is a big driver at a television-sales level as we know from the data that we see whenever there's a World Cup. Whether that be male or female football or even the recent Rugby World Cup, there are big sales at a device level. We want to flow that down into our own service as well.
Can you explain the user experience if you own a Samsung TV?
Gregory: The service runs on 2016- to 2023-year TV models, and we're also available on selected Galaxy mobile and tablet devices. We sit prominently on the home screen next to the biggest SVOD and BVOD players as well. We're taking FAST very seriously. It's our own service, and whilst there has been huge progress over the last three, four years, there's still more to come.
Alan, you are with ATP Media, and you are looking at FAST. Please give us a sense of the rights landscape, your current offerings around apps and streaming, and where you see FAST fitting into that equation.
Bruno: We look at FAST as a potential additional vertical of our wider content strategy. We are not a channels business, we're in broadcast. We monetize 60-plus tournaments across the ATP Tour each year and also operate an SVOD service, Tennis TV. We also have short-form content across social and a publisher network as well. We are looking at FAST as potentially an additional vertical, maybe using some archive content, potentially looking at dark-market solutions for some of our tournaments. We don't have many dark markets left, but we are looking at that as a potential option.
But we are also looking at it as a way potentially to find a more general audience, a different audience. We're certainly super-serving the tennis fan. Could we perhaps use this as a way of reaching the wider, more general sports fan or general entertainment fan? We're looking at it closely and, obviously, speaking to guys like Chris around the distribution solutions. But what we need to make sure is, we are looking at it probably on a market-by-market basis with the broadcast partner in a market or with our SVOD platform in mind.
What are some of the questions that pop up when your internal team discusses FAST?
Bruno: We want to make sure it's got the right brand identity. We didn't want to launch just an archive channel. I think, a few years ago, the FAST landscape was very focused on people monetizing their archive, the content that was sitting on the shelf. We want it to form part of our wider content strategy. Yes, it would utilize some of the archive, but we also want it to connect with our other touchpoints with our fans.
Gregory: When it comes to sport, live is a big push, and I think the launch of the DAZN FAST Plus, which happened last December, gave us premium football content that we never thought we were going to get from three of the biggest leagues in the world. We also had an exclusive Champions League highlight show. This is the kind of thing that we speak to partners about. We don't expect partners just to launch blindly into this space; we're very hands-on, and we'll see what's working, what's not and advise from there.
Chris, how did the DAZN deal come about?
Gregory: The initial conversation started about two years ago. We've got a very strong relationship with DAZN because they've got the app business that's prominent in Germany as well as on our home screen and other markets. They've got loads of archive, but, at the same time, because DAZN looked to disrupt the market, they had carved out live rights to add into their FAST channels. It was just making sure that they weren't necessarily impacting their day-to-day business. And then we worked together on the Champions League show. I don't think there's any free-to-air highlights package for the Champions League in Germany and Austria, so it was, How can we make this channel someth
North America Stories
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
12/11/2026
Ben Winston, Glenn Weiss, and FIFA's Jenni-Lee Van Gelder headlined a day fo...
12/11/2026
Free interactive platform visualizes team tendencies, formations, and schemes, updated weekly...
12/11/2026
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Charlie Jablonski's broadcasting career is...
12/11/2026
Gracenote's 2026 State of Play report signals a rising retention risk: More ...
FAST Channels Part One: Samsung, ATP Media, Telstra Discuss Ins and Outs of Launching, Managing Free Ad-Supported Streaming Sportel Monaco session dives deep into the elements of FAST success By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
