ZDF Studios plans FAST channel launch in Latin America

Robert Franke, VP Drama, Dr. Markus Schäfer, President and CEO, Susanne Frank, Director Drama (all 3 ZDF Studios), Luis Torres-Bohl (founder and President of Castalia Communications Corporation), Stephan Königfeld (Channel Factory), Florian Streit, Director Drama, ZDF Studios

German broadcaster ZDF has announced its production and distribution arm, ZDF Studios, has signed a deal with US-based international media development company, Castalia Communications, to develop a FAST channel for the LatAm region.

The move will see ZDF Studios’ catalogue available to Spanish-speaking end-users in Latin America and the Hispanic market in the US. The launch of the first offering is scheduled for Q2 2024 and will focus on a selection of drama programming that will be available to viewers in Spanish.

The news was announced in MIPCOM Cannes today, with ZDF aiming to reach Latin America’s growing markets for FAST with an offering of both new and classic content in their language.

The company noted consumption of streaming OTT services has increased dramatically during and after the pandemic due to technological advances in smartphones, tablets and mobile TV.  It cited a report by Global Industry Analysts Inc, that forecasts the market to grow by over US$217 billion by 2026.

ZDF launched a joint streaming network with German public broadcaster ARD last week where the pair’s joint media catalogues now enable common entry to a broad range of publicly-funded content.

Luis Torres-Bohl, founder and CEO of Castalia Communications, said, “We are confident that our groundbreaking media project will be very successful throughout Latin America and with Spanish-speaking audiences in the US.  We are honoured to be part of this project that will bring stories of contemporary “Goethes and Schillers” that will be very popular with viewers across the region.”

Susanne Frank, director of drama at ZDF Studios, added: “We are very excited about this opportunity to work with an established partner and expert in this subject matter to bring our great catalogue of programming to an interested audience in the Americas. We are convinced that this way we will be able to open up completely new, interested target groups in the Spanish-speaking market.”