Amagi: FAST Growth Is Slowing; Live Programming Is the Answer
In an interview at the 2026 NAB Show, Amagi's Dan Marshall stated that future growth in the FAST market will rely on live programming to increase CPMs and engagement. He also identified trends including platform consolidation, pay-TV operators integrating FAST channels into their program guides (a practice he calls "front porching"), and the need for more sophisticated ad monetization. Marshall noted that Amagi has launched agentic AI-powered tools, like Newspulse, to help content owners manage costs and automate workflows at scale.
Key Takeaways
- FAST market growth rates are slowing from previous years' 25-50% pace as tier-one content saturates major platforms like Tubi and Pluto TV.
- Live programming generates higher CPMs than archive content. Amagi is handling live distribution for CNN's FAST channel and the NBA's G League.
- Pay-TV operators including DirecTV, TiVo, and Virgin Media are "front porching" FAST channels by embedding them directly into their electronic program guides.
- Amagi has launched commercial agentic AI tools, including Newspulse, to automate workflows like news clip creation, metadata, and localization.
- Some content owners, such as FilmRise, are moving libraries from FAST platforms to YouTube to find better revenue as niche channel viewership gets diluted.
Why It Matters
The era of easy FAST growth based on VOD library scale is ending, requiring a strategic shift toward live events to raise CPMs. Amagi’s focus on "front porching" and agentic AI tools addresses the market's two core challenges: finding distribution in a consolidated landscape and managing operational costs at scale. This puts pressure on platforms to support live streams effectively and on content owners to secure live-capable rights. The key indicator to watch is whether the CPM lift from initial live FAST experiments is sufficient to attract more premium sports and news rights holders.
Read full article at newscaststudio.com
Enjoy our coverage?
Add StreamingMeme as a preferred source on Google to see more of our streaming news at the top of your Search results.
Add as preferred source